The Moonlight Warrior of Egypt
by Mew Universe
Summary: The Sailor Scouts trace a distress signal to Egypt, and Yugi and the gang also end up in Egypt when the Scouts do. Is it coincidence? Did ancient Egypt and the Moon Kingdom have ties 1000, or even 5000, years ago? Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

The Moonlight Warrior of Egypt

Chapter 1

Grand adventures usually begin on quite ordinary days. At least, that's always been the case for the Sailor Scouts, teenage champions of love and justice.

At the shrine, the six Scouts sat around the low table, talking, studying, and all that other regular teenager stuff. Serena Tsukino, a blonde with her hair rolled in buns with flowing ponytails, snatched another brownie from the center of the table before the tall brunette Lita Kino could stop her. Lita simply shook her head and rolled her chocolate eyes at Serena's behavior. Raye Hino was about to snap at Serena, but the other blonde, Mina Aino, gave the raven-haired priestess a warning glare. Amy Mizuno had her blue eyes absorbed in reading a textbook, and Amber Dawson began asking Lita about the recipe for the brownies she'd made for that day.

Amber was the odd one out of the group, but not simply because she was American while the others were Japanese. Her long, curly red-brown hair fell halfway down her back, and her caramel brown eyes seemed to hold both keen intelligence and completely insane ideas. Not only that, but unlike the others, this kind and fiercely loyal girl had not faced Queen Beryl or the Negamoon family. She did not even join the Scouts until little pink-haired Rini became her friend and discovered that Amber and the mysterious Sailor Universe were the same person. Before then, she kept to herself, but now Amber and the rest of the Scouts were close friends. That bond was as essential to her as duct tape is for nerds.

Serena finished munching the brownie and looked over at Amy. "Amy, why are you still studying?" she asked.

Lita leaned over the book Amy was taking notes from. "Yea, we're not even studying ancient Egypt in class for several weeks."

"I know, but I want to be at least six chapters ahead, which I am," Amy replied matter-of-factly.

Serena sighed. "Typical Amy, always ahead of the game."

"There are some good things about being ahead and taking notes. For one thing, you always know what's going on," Mina replied.

"Not to mention Ancient Egypt is such a fascinating subject," Amber replied.

Everyone turned and looked at her, except Amy. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, I've always been into ancient Egypt stuff, with its ancient hieroglyphics, towering pyramids, beautifully fashioned amulets, well-preserved mummies…" Amber sighed and stared off into space, chin in her hands. "It's all so amazing."

"I read in my history book at school that the ancient Egyptians had priests and priestesses, just like the Shinto," Raye remembered.

"And they believed in a life after death, just like my religion," Amber replied.

"Speaking of Egypt, we've got trouble there," Artemis said, shocked. Everyone stopped talking, and Amy and Amber checked their computers.

"Do you have an exact location of where it's coming from?" Raye asked.

"Let me look." Amy gasped. "It's coming from the Valley of the Kings!"

"Do you think it's coming from one of the unfound tombs?" Amber asked.

"We're not sure, but we have to find out," Luna replied.

"Alright then, let's go!" Serena said excitedly.

"But using our teleport power could be risky," Lita said.

"Then... how can we get there?" Mina wondered, tapping her chin.

"Actually, my father, who's an artist, is going to Egypt soon, and in his last letter to me he asked if I'd like to go with him, and he said I could bring as many friends as I want to," Amy replied.

"Then let's go!" A voice called out from behind Serena. Everyone jumped in surprise, and Serena turned around to see Rini standing behind her.

"Rini! When did you get here?" Serena asked the girl with bunny-shaped hair buns angrily.

"Several minutes ago. I was here long enough to hear your whole conversation about Egypt. So, are we going?" Rini asked.

"Could you call your dad and tell him that we'd like to go with him?" Lita asked.

"Sure! But, you guys have to get permission too," Amy commented.

"You do have a point," Amber replied.

"Alright! Let's get permission and get ready to go!" Mina exclaimed.

"YEA!" Everyone joined in.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to ask right now," Serena said.

"Me, too," Mina said in response.

"I don't have to get permission like the rest of you, but I'm leaving to go get ready," Lita replied.

"See you later!" Raye said. "I'm going to ask my grandpa."

With that, everyone grabbed their backpacks and left.

* * *

*~*~Meanwhile, at Yugi's house in nearby Domino City~*~*

"What? Oh, well, at least I tried," Serenity moaned. The caramel-haired girl had just finished a table-top duel with Tea and had lost. "After all, I'm not that good at dueling yet."

"It's okay, sis," Joey said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "With practice, you'll get better."

"Thanks Joey. Maybe I'll be as good as you someday!" Serenity said.

"Yea, then nobody will mess with the Wheeler duo!" Joey and Serenity hi-fived.

"Even though you didn't win, you played really well," Yugi replied, leaning back against the couch where he sat on the floor. "Both of you used really good strategies."

"At least Serenity's loss wasn't anything like when I dueled Joey," Tea replied, smirking and flipping back her short brown hair.

"Hey, that was before I knew I needed magic and trap cards as well as monsters!" Joey exclaimed.

"I remember that day," Tristan responded, relaxing on the couch. "She totally wasted you with a really good magic card."

Serenity stared wide-eyed at Tea. "You beat my big brother?"

"Yep," Tea replied.

"Well, at least I know my brother was like me once," Serenity said, smiling.

"Um, yea… he he…" The usually fiery blonde Joey put his hand behind his head in embarrassment, and a big sweat-drop appeared on his head.

Everyone else laughed nervously as Yugi's grandpa entered the room. "Hi Grandpa!" Yugi called out.

"Hello Mr. Moto," Tristan said, sitting up.

"Hello, everyone," Yugi's grandpa replied with a smile. "I have some exciting news that you all might be interested in."

"What is it?" Yugi asked.

"Rebecca Hawkin's grandpa just phoned, and he asked if I would like to go with him to an archeological dig in Egypt. He's leaving next week, and he said you could all come with, if you would like to."

"I'm all for it! How about you guys?" Yugi asked his friends.

"Yea, let's go!" Joey exclaimed. Everyone else answered in a similar fashion.

"Alright, I'll call him back and tell him it's an affirmative," Yugi's grandpa replied, leaving the room.

"Wait, Grandpa! Is Rebecca coming, too?" Yugi asked.

"I don't know, but I'll ask," Yugi's grandpa shouted down the hall. With that, the conversation turned from Serenity's and Tea's duel to Egypt, what it would be like there, and how exciting it would be.

"Hey Yug! Maybe we'll find more stuff about the Pharaoh and things linked to the Puzzle while we're there," Joey suggested.

"I'm hoping personally to find the Pharaoh's tomb while we're in Egypt," Yugi replied, fingering the Puzzle and looking it over.

"His tomb? How come?" Tea asked curiously.

"I have my reasons," Yugi replied with a smile, and no one bothered to ask further.

*~*~Next week at the airport ~*~*

Amy, Serena, and the others waited for Amy's dad to arrive. Even though he lived far away, he said he was driving to the airport and would meet them there.

Serena yawned and looked at her watch. "It's 6 o'clock in the morning. I never wake up this early on a weekend." She yawned again. "I'm so tired." She sat on the bench next to their luggage.

"Just be patient, Serena. You can always sleep on the plane," Amber replied. "Be grateful you got permission – that was hard to get out of my parents."

"I don't know how much more of Serena's whining I can handle," Raye replied, annoyed.

"Me neither," Rini retorted. A big sweat drop appeared on both of their heads. "By the way, Amber, where are Amberlee and Cloe?" Rini asked.

"Huh?" Amber perked up at the mention of her doll guardians. "Oh, they agreed to letting me put them in my suitcase."

Amy was looking up and down the street in front of the airport, the most anxious of all of them for him to show up. _Will he be the same? Will he still care for me as his daughter?_ Other such questions filled her head. Memories of her childhood came to her mind of her playful father tossing her in the air and playing pretend doctor with her. She paced back and forth over and over, then suddenly stopped. "There he is!" she exclaimed, pointing at a taxi approaching. The others ran to join her.

The taxi pulled up to the front of the airport where Amy and her friends were at, and a tall man with black hair got out. Amy, unable to contain her excitement, ran to him and gave him a great big hug. At first the others just stood there gaping, since hugging was something normally Amy didn't do and wasn't comfortable with, but then, starting with Amber, they joined Amy and her dad.

"Oh, Dad, it's so good to see you!" Amy exclaimed joyfully, still embracing her dad around his thick chest. Her dad stood there in shock at first, but eventually returned the hug.

"I'm glad to see you too, sweetie," he replied. He hugged her tighter, tears filling his eyes. After a while, Amy pulled away from her dad, smiling.

"Dad, these are my friends, Serena, Raye, Lita, Mina, Rini, and Amber," Amy said. Each girl bowed, in Japanese tradition, when their name was mentioned.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Mina replied.

"Same here," Lita replied. The others replied in a similar manner.

"After hearing so much about you, I'm glad to finally meet you in person," Amber responded.

"The pleasure is all mine," Amy's dad replied. "Now who's ready for an adventure?"

"I am!" everyone chorused in unison, Amber and Rini the loudest.

"Great! Now let's get going and not make the plane wait for us." He picked up his bags and walked over to where everyone else's luggage was.

Amy giggled. "Oh, Daddy." _He's still that same old tease, and for that I'm glad. At least he hasn't changed too much, _Amy thought. Everyone got their luggage and headed for the plane. Serena got a bit too excited and tripped.

"Milady, are you alright?" Amber asked, catching Serena before she fell.

"I'm fine. Amber, you slipped," Serena reminded Amber.

"Oh yeah… he he." Amber put her hand behind her head and a big sweat-drop appeared. _Yeah, calling Serena 'milady' is a bad habit,_ she thought. Amber, with slightly red cheeks, and Serena, straightening her skirt, joined the others.

*~*~In another part of the airport~*~*

"Where are Joey and Serenity? They're taking forever!" Tristan exclaimed in annoyance. He paced back and forth impatiently.

"Oh, be patient! Not everyone is punctual," Tea retorted, looking up from the book she was reading.

"After all, Joey does like his sleep," Yugi commented, batting his blonde bangs out of his eyes. Just then a sleepy-eyed Joey and a bright-eyed Serenity walked up to Yugi and the gang .

"Hey guys! Sorry it took us so long, but it took almost a full hour to wake this zombie up," Serenity said jokingly, jerking her thumb back at Joey. He was slowly dragging his luggage just behind Serenity and yawned loudly.

"I'm not used to waking up this early," Joey explained.

"I am. Sometimes I wake up early because I'm really excited and can't sleep, like for an upcoming duel or tournament," Yugi replied.

"Yes, and sometimes he gets me up too when he stays up organizing his deck and such," Yugi's grandpa responded, chuckling.

"Grandpa…" Yugi murmured as a sweat drop appeared.

"There they are!" Tea shouted. She happened to look up from her book and saw the limousine approaching that Rebecca's grandpa was in. The limo pulled up to the front of the airport, and two people stepped out.

"Hi everyone!" Rebecca called out, waving. She ran to Yugi and the gang carrying a small bag, her blonde ponytails flying to each side of her head. Her grandpa took the suitcases and another carry-on bag out of the limo, exchanged a few words with the driver, and walked up to where everyone else was as the limo drove away. "Oh, Yugi, I missed you so much!" she squealed, tackling Yugi to the ground. "I think about you every single day!"

"Uh, yeah, great... can you get off me now?" Yugi gasped. "Can't...breathe..."

"Oh no," Tea muttered, smacking her forehead.

"Rebecca, would you please get off of little Yugi?" her grandpa asked politely.

Rebecca perked her head up. "Yes, Grandpa!" she replied like an angel, bounding up off the panting Yugi.

"How are you all?" Rebecca's grandpa asked the teenagers.

"We're fine, thanks," Tristan replied. Yugi slowly stood and brushed himself off. "Well, maybe not Yugi, but-" Yugi cut him off by punching his arm lightly.

"It's good to see you again," Yugi's grandpa replied, putting his hand on Rebecca's grandpa's shoulder.

"The same here. Now who here is ready for an adventure?" Rebecca's grandpa asked the group.

"I am!" Rebecca and the others chorused in unison.

"Alright, then, let's get the luggage and head for the plane before it takes off without us," he replied, handing one of the suitcases to Rebecca.

"Oh, Grandpa, that's not going to happen," Rebecca replied, giggling.

"You can never be too sure about that, my little granddaughter," her grandpa chuckled. With that, everyone got their luggage and started off.

* * *

MU: Although this chapter initially was uploaded back in 2008, I revised it to better introduce Amber, my main OC, and for clarity.

Rini: Yeah, this chapter needed to be revised.

MU: Thanks, Rini! Anyways, please leave a review when you finish reading! I love feedback - it helps me improve my writing.


	2. Chapter 2

"I've never been in a plane before. This is so cool!" Mina said enthusiastically.

"Uh, I'm still not sure about this, guys..." Lita moaned.

Amber turned around and knelt on her seat. Behind her, Lita had her hands in death grips on her arms rests, her body frozen with fear. "It'll be ok, Lita," Amber gently reassured her, smiling. "If you watch a movie or rest or something, the time will fly by. I promise."

Lita forced her head to jerk up so she could meet Amber's eyes. "Y-you sure?"

"Promise!" Amber said with a nod. "I've never been on a plane before, but no need to be afraid, chica."

"And look at that view!" Raye said, looking out the window of the plane as the city below them became as small as a child's playset. "Lita, it's gorgeous! You gotta look!"

"Those fields out there look like the quilt I saw at a pioneer museum back home," Amber commented. The other girls began talking excitedly, Lita eventually joining them, but Amber continued staring out the window.

Rini looked over her shoulder. "It is really pretty."

"Mm, hmm," Amber replied absentmindedly.

Rini's face took on an expression of concern. "Amber, are you okay? You haven't talked much since we took off." Amber didn't respond. "Amber?" _She's totally spaced. I wonder what she's thinking,_ Rini wondered, tapping her arm rest."Amber? You there?" She waved her hand in front of Amber's eyes.

Amber jerked out of her daydreams and looked over at the pink-haired child. "Oh sorry, Rini. What was that you said? I didn't hear a word of it."

"I'm just wondering if you're okay." Rini plopped back into her seat besides Amber. "You've been distracted since we took off."

"I'm fine, really. I just…" Amber searched for the right words. "… I have a lot on my mind right now."

"Like what?" Rini asked, curious.

"I don't know. Ever since we got on, I had this weird feeling. Not like we're in danger, something… oddly familiar…" She ran her fingers through her scalp, then lowered her hand.

Recognizing that Amber's voice was getting that drifting-far-away tone, Rini just replied, "Oh." As she stared worriedly at Amber, who was staring out the window, she thought, _I hope that doesn't mean anything, 'cause if something happened… If only I could tell better what Amber is thinking._

When Rini turned on an on-flight movie, Amber watched to make sure Rini wouldn't notice anything from her direction. Opening her carry-on bag, she took out a gold chain link-type bracelet with an unusual eye in the center of it. Staring at it, she focused on the strange energy she felt. _I don't know why I felt like I should bring it, but maybe I'll find some answers when we're in Egypt._

_**I am sure we will,**_ a voice chimed in her head.

Amber jolted, eyes wide in shock. {_Sariah? What in Ra's name are you doing here?}_

_**You have the bracelet with you, dear sister, **_the voice chastised gently. In Amber's mind, she saw herself come face to face with a young woman who looked like herself in every way – curly hair, average build, freckled face - except for the other's dark brown eyes. _**And besides, the only way for all the Millennium Items to be reunited is if they are all together, including this item of light, **_Sariah reminded her.

_{You don't mean…}_ Amber began, her voice sounding distant in their telepathic connection._ {Yugi's going to Egypt, too?}_

_**Yes; he is here right now with the others.**_

_{But Yugi and the Sailor Scouts are from different dimensions! How can they end up in the same plane, or even the same Egypt?}_

_**I am not sure. You **__**are**__** the Guardian, remember? You should know about these sorts of things more than I.**_

_{How did this bracelet end up in the Scouts' dimension, anyways? It's been puzzling me all day!}_

Sariah shrugged. _**Who knows? Maybe the worlds of the Moon Princess and the Pharaoh are not different like you think they are.**_

_{But they are! The Master said they are! There's no way—} _

"Amber? Amber? AMBER!"

Amber jerked upright and turned around to face Lita. "What's the matter?" _Dangit, just as they interrupted my conversation with Sariah..._

"We've been trying to get your attention for at least two minutes. Look outside!"

She did, grinning when she spotted it. "Hey, it's America! And there's the Kennecott Copper Mine in Utah!"

"Is that what that black dot is there?" Serena asked.

"Yes, the Kennecott Copper Mine is the largest open pit mine in the whole world!" Amy answered, turning her head back.

"It's so big it can be seen from space," Amber added.

"Yes, and it's going to be even bigger," Amy replied.

"That's my smart girl," Amy's dad bragged, putting his arm around Amy's shoulders. "Always knowing so much about everything, it makes her dad feel like a first year boy again."

Amy laughed. "Oh Daddy, you're smart, too."

As Amy and her dad continued catching up from the past several years, Raye commented to Amber, "I haven't seen Amy this happy or confident in a while. I'm glad her dad came back."

"I am, too. It's awful imagining what it'd be like without my dad around," Amber replied.

"And he was willing to take us all to Egypt, too! It's so cool!" Lita replied, her voice lacking the uncertainty her fear of planes had given her.

"Yeah," Amber replied grinning. As Lita and Raye became as chatty as Serena and Mina behind them, though, Amber soon secluded herself from the conversation as her worry returned. _Could Sariah be right? Is there some other purpose other than the distress signal we picked up for going to Egypt? _She slipped the bracelet onto her wrist. _I guess I'll be finding out soon, but it's difficult being patient for something like that._

"Hey, I'll be right back," Serena said to Mina as she got up to find the bathroom. Walking towards the back of the plane, she smashed into a young man with his blonde hair in huge spikes, almost knocking him to the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry," they both said at once.

"It's quite alright," Serena said as they slipped by each other. Her compact in her pocket briefly touched the upside-down pyramid the boy was wearing and grew warm in her pocket.

Serena stopped shock-still. Pulling her compact out, its glow and warmth lasted for a mere second, then became dull and cold again.

_What was that all about?_ Serena wondered as she watched the boy, who kept walking forward towards his seat. _That energy… It felt so… old. But how does that work? _ She shook her head out of her stupor, walked to the restroom, and closed the door.

"Hey Yug, maybe you ought to watch where you're going. Don't want to trip any more cute girls, now do we?" Joey smirked as Yugi took the seat next to him.

"I didn't trip her, I just ran into her!" Yugi protested, folding his arms over his chest. "And besides, the Puzzle reacted weirdly when we walked past each other."

"What do you mean, reacted weirdly?" Tristan asked from behind Yugi.

"I don't know," Yugi said with a shrug. "I thought I saw something in her pocket glow, and the Puzzle grew really warm and started to glow a bit, too."

Tea turned around. "But how come? Doesn't that only happen with two Millennium Items?"

"That's what I thought," Yugi shrugged. "But we've found all the Items, plus Amber's eighth Item which isn't a real Item, so I doubt that girl has another Item."

"Hmm," Tea thought about it. "What else could it be, then?"

"I don't know," Yugi answered honestly. "But the energy I felt… it felt so… ethereal. Like it belonged on another world or something like that."

Silence fell amongst the group, and Yugi's grandpa could be heard snoring. Serenity shifted in her sleep next to Tristan. "I don't know about you guys," Tristan broke in, quieting his voice as not to wake Serenity, "but I figure let's not worry about it unless something else happens to the Puzzle."

"Yeah," Joey yawned and stretched his arms above him. "I'm going to catch some shut-eye. See ya when I wake up." Joey was soon fast asleep.

"I wouldn't worry much about it, either, Yugi," Tea said soothingly. "Besides, maybe we'll find out something while we're in Egypt."

"Maybe," Yugi smiled. "Thanks Tea."

Tea smiled back. "Welcome." She put on her headset and turned on some music.

Smiling, Yugi looked back at Tristan and Serenity. Earlier, Joey had been enraged when Tristan said he wanted to sit next to Serenity, and they'd bickered until Yugi's and Rebecca's grandpas had come up with a compromise that Serenity sit by Tristan part of the flight and Joey the other part. Serenity was happy with it, and the two boys agreed grudgingly. Now, seeing Tristan stroked Serenity's hair gently and lovingly as she slept, he could see why Tristan and Joey had fought. _Joey's always so protective of his little sister, _Yugi thought.

Then, fingering the Puzzle, his mind turned back to the energy he'd felt from the girl. _What was that energy anyways? It's like nothing else I've felt before._

_**I've felt it before,**_ Yami Yugi said. His ghostly outline appeared by Yugi; he looked like an older, taller, more experienced form of Yugi. _**It's been over two thousand years since power of that type has existed on this earth.**_

_Power? So it's not just floating energy, but it's powerful?_

_**Very powerful, Yugi. It originated from Earth's Moon. **_Yami's eyebrows furrowed together.

_Earth's Moon? But there's no life on the Moon!_

_**There was at one time, back when I was Pharaoh of Egypt. But… even though I have my memories of my reign still, for some reason I have no recollection of the Moon's people, the Lunarians, other than their name—and the unspeakable power held by their ruler.**_

_Did you ever interact with the Moon's ruler?_

_**I must have, otherwise I would not have linked the Moon to that energy.**_

_So… the energy from that girl is… Lunarian?_

_**I'm not sure. It's a lot like it, yet different at the same time. If only my memories of the Moon wouldn't elude me so… Yugi, how about you get some rest?**_

_You sure? You seem worried since that—_

_**Don't worry. While you rest, I'll puzzle it out.**_

Yugi smirked at the wordplay. _Alright then, I'll rest._ Yugi closed his eyes, the last picture in his mind of a full moon shining over the Great Pyramids of Egypt.

Meanwhile, Yugi wasn't the only one to ponder that strange encounter. _What was up with that odd feeling, anyways? _Serena wondered. She stared at her compact in a half-daze as she held it in both hands.

Luna poked her head out from Serena's carry on bag. "Serena, are you alright?"

"Hm?" Serena looked down at Luna.

"Something's on your mind, and I've been feeling traces of the strangest power attached to your compact." Luna stared intently at the compact.

"So you can feel it, too?" Serena asked, glancing at the black cat.

"Yes," Luna replied. "and, believe it or not, it's strangely familiar to me." The guardian cat's voice had traces of irritation braided through it.

"But how?" Her fingers tightened their grip on her compact.

"At times I can remember traces of my Moon life, and that energy's triggered a part of it. What exactly, I'm not sure." Luna sighed, dipping her head.

Serena sighed as well. "Whatever it was that made my compact glow, it feels so… old and mystical. And it's getting slightly stronger."

Luna cocked her head, her eyes still on the compact. "It could be attached to ancient Egypt, so whatever it is, we'll find out soon."

"How can you know for sure?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but it's the only conclusion I can come to."

Artemis squeezed out from Mina's carry-on bag underneath her arm. "Man, that girl does sleep heavy! Ow..." he moaned as he slid out of the bag like a snake. He walked over to Luna and faced Serena. "Luna's right. I've felt the energy, too, and it does seem to be connected to Egypt."

"Could it be linked to the signal we picked up from that one place in Egypt?" Serena asked.

"The Valley of the Kings? It's hard to say," Artemis replied with a shrug.

"How about we all get some rest? We did wake up early to get to the airport," Luna suggested with a slightly forced smile.

Serena yawned, covering her mouth. "Yeah, and maybe when we wake up or get there, things will make more sense." Luna and Artemis slipped back into the carry-on bags, and Serena started to close her eyes. _Oh Darien… Maybe you could make some sense out of this if you were here and didn't have classes._ The last image in her mind was of a full moon shining over the Great Pyramids of Egypt.

* * *

(Author comments below)

MU: Yay for more chapter revisions! Man, this looks so much better now...

Rini: Uh, why are you doing this again, Mew?

MU: Well, for a few reasons, which I'll explain to you and my dear readers here. See, when I first started writing this story two years ago, I was really obsessed with Sailor Moon and knew virtually nothing about Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yugi: Are you serious?

MU: Yes I am, Yugi-kun. At the time, Yu-Gi-Oh! was a show I had watched and remembered liking, but I didn't know the important details about. So, I did a bunch of research on YGO and used that with a few of my own memories to write for you duelist characters. But, now that I'm back into Yu-Gi-Oh, I have to change some details and add things.

Yugi: Uh, I doubt that you have to...

MU: If I don't it'll bug me for ages! Anyways, expect to see updated versions of Chapters 3 and 4 as well! Maybe 5, but at least 3 and 4. :) If this is your first time reading this story, good for you! You get to see the not so crappy version!

Rini: This story wasn't crappy before...

MU: True, but now it's better. :) Anyways, please review whether you like the story or not! Arigato!


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey guys, we're here!" Rini shouted excitedly as the plane came in for a landing. The other girls began yawning and stretching as they woke up slowly, and Amy's dad popped his back.

"How do you do that, Daddy?" Amy asked half-sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"Just picked it up one day and never forgot it, sweetheart," he replied, smiling. "You ready for an adventure, Amy?"

"Oh yes!" Amy suddenly jumped up. "Seeing the pyramids will be absolutely fabulous!" she said enthusiastically as she grabbed her carry-on bag.

"Indeed!" Rini perked up. "My mom took me to see them once when I lived in Crystal Tokyo, but we couldn't get too close."

"How come?" Raye asked.

"They were restoring them at the time, so we could only look at them from miles away."

"They have to be restored by then?" Lita asked confused.

"Yeah, you see-" Rini paused, spinning around. "Hey, Amber's not awake yet!" she exclaimed.

Mina and Raye both leaned over the seats in front of them. "That's odd," Raye commented. "Usually Amber's awake before the rest of us." She reached over and moved some of Amber's long curly auburn hair away from her face. "Amber? Hey, Amber, we're here!"

Rini grabbed Amber's shoulder and shook her. "Amber, wake up!"

"Holy guacamole!" Amber shouted as she jumped awake. Rubbing her eyes, she asked, "We're here already?"

"Yeah, but it's going to be a moment before we get off," Mina replied with a sweatdrop on her head.

Rini's eye caught a golden glimmer from Amber's wrist. "Hey, what's that you're wearing?" she asked, pointing at the chain.

"Oh, this?" Amber held up her wrist, which bore the golden bracelet with the eye in the center. "I found it in a garbage can outside a pawn shop a while back, and the owner said I could keep it."

"Why would he throw it away?" Rini queried, tilting her head to one side.

Amber shrugged. "He had his reasons." She stood and grabbed her and Rini's carry-on bags from above their heads. "You may want to take this," Amber said as she handed Rini her bag.

Rini took it silently, her face still bearing its mask of concern. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I've been wondering, too," Lita added. "You slept like that at both flight changes, too."

"And it took us a while to wake you up every time," Amy commented with a contemplative finger on her chin.

"I'm fine now," Amber said smiling. "You don't need to worry, guys."

"Okay," Lita, Rini, and Amy said simultaneously. The Scouts squeezed into the crowd of people getting off, making sure to stay together, Amy and her dad in front of their party.

Amber dropped her fake smile once she started walking between Lita and Rini off the plane. _Gosh darn it, must I find a reason to worry everywhere I go? _She rubbed her forehead. _It's definitely not good for my health, but still... I just can't figure it out!_ She remembered what she had picked up from Serena's surface thoughts before she fell asleep after the first flight change. _Could that have been Yugi she ran into? If it was, is there a connection I'm missing? Could it have also triggered the reaction my own compact had? But how- _Amber tripped over one of the stairs descending from the plane, but luckily Lita caught her by the arm.

"Hurt yourself there, Amber?" Lita asked, hand on Amber's shoulder.

"Nope. Thanks, Lita," Amber said, glancing back at Lita and smiling. As she stepped down the last step, she decided, _Okay, I'm not going to worry about this until I find some more evidence! And unless I come across some, I'm not going to worry about it any more!_

*~*~Meanwhile, on the plane~*~*

"This is going to rock!" Rebecca exclaimed. She bounced up and down in front of her grandpa, waiting anxiously to exit the plane.

Her grandpa laughed. "Settle down, Becca," he said, placing a hand on her head.

"I wish her energy was contagious," Serenity commented, looking next to her at Joey as he yawned. "My brother could definitely use some," she added with a laugh.

"And I thought you got more sleep than Rebecca," Tristan sneered. "Or were you too busy staying awake to be the protective big brother to Serenity?"

Joey growled as his hand balled into a fist. "Tristan, why I oughta-"

"Joey, not now!" Yugi, who had been distracted, now put his hand on Joey's shoulder, frightened. "It's not worth it!"

"Besides," Tristan added as he took his and Serenity's carry-on bags, "this is only a friendly rivalry, right Joe?"

A tear slipped down Serenity's face. "Joey, please don't be so mad," she pleaded, her voice hushed, not quite a whisper. "You two have been fighting most of the trip."

"She's got a point," Tea added, her own bag slung over her shoulder. "For one, I'm sick and tired of it!"

Seeing Serenity's unhappy face, Joey sighed and relaxed his fist. "I'm sorry, sis. Guess I overreact, eh?"

Serenity smiled. "A lot." She suddenly jumped forward and gave him a hug. "But I forgive you." Brother and sister smiled as Joey returned the hug.

Yugi sighed, relieved. "At least now I hope to have one less thing to worry about."

"What do you mean, Yug?" Joey asked as Serenity released him.

"I've been trying to figure out about what that strange energy is doing here," Yugi said, unsure of how much to say at that moment.

"What energy?" Rebecca asked, bouncing once more onto her seat.

"Ah..." A sweatdrop appeared on Yugi's head; his mind ran out of ideas for explaining what had happened. Not to mention Rebecca hadn't been at Battle City or Duelist Kingdom, so she didn't know about the Millennium Items and their power just yet.

"Let's talk later," Yugi's grandpa interrupted, stopping his conversation with Rebecca's grandpa, Professor Hawkins. "We can get off the plane now."

"Yay!" Rebecca almost jumped into the plane aisle, walking happily off, Prof. Hawkins following her with both their carry-ons.

"Hey, Yugi, did you ever get a hold of Amber before we left?" Tea asked as the gang began exiting the plane.

"No, she didn't answer either of her phones or her email," Yugi replied, his mouth a frown.

Tea tapped her lip with one finger. "But she usually does..."

"I know, but she may be in Singapore right now. She did say she was going to visit a friend there sometime," Yugi commented with a shrug.

"Oh," was all Tea could think of to say. She followed behind Tristan, and Yugi followed her. _If Amber was here, maybe she and Sariah could help me and Yami figure this out. But since she isn't... I'll have to do this without her._

_

* * *

_*~*~ At a hotel in Egypt ~*~*

A woman looked over the top of her newspaper. Her black hair stayed behind her ears as she lowered her sunglasses, revealing brown almond-shaped Egyptian eyes. Absentmindedly her hand went to her neck, as though something was supposed to be on it. She wore a black business suit, making her tan skin look even darker, a perfect way to spy on the group of girls that entered the hotel with the artist Mizuno. Her eyes looked for one in particular, and spotting the girl with the auburn hair, she waited cautiously to approach her.

"Did you see all that jewelry that one man was selling?" Serena asked.

"I know!" Mina chirped back, cupping her own cheeks. "That one gold bracelet was so gorgeous! I can't wait to exchange our currency so I can buy it!"

"That one guy selling good luck charms scared me half to death," Raye interjected with a hand over her heart. "He jumped right in my face!"

"That's the way open air markets work," Mr. Mizuno replied. "They look for customers, rather than customers looking for them."

"That's why you bought that ring, right Dad?" Amy asked, gesturing to the gold ring on his left hand.

"Indeed," Mr. Mizuno replied, rubbing it. "The young lady with her wares wouldn't stop pestering me until I bought something." He laughed heartily, then went up to the desk where a receptionist sat.

As he checked them all in, Rini turned to Amber. "What did you think of that man with the monkey we saw out there? His monkey climbed all over me!"

"That monkey was nearly the death of me," Lita laughed, rubbing the sore spot where it had pulled her hair.

Amber laughed. "I loved the monkey, even though it nearly took my bracelet," she replied, holding up the golden bracelet with the strange eye. "It was more like a furry spider than a monkey!"

The two laughed, and Rini thought, _I'm glad she isn't so sad now. She worries too much! Usually about nothing..._

"Alright, now, let's get up to our rooms," Mr. Mizuno called to them all. A bellboy rolled their luggage away on a cart, and the group began to leave.

However, Amber sensed her. _What the blazes-_ In an instant she turned and saw the woman setting down the newspaper and walking in her direction. Amber's eyes grew wide in surprise as her feet froze in place.

"Ishizu!" The name forced itself form Amber's lips, as though it was a curse.

The woman smiled, a rarity for her. "Yes, it is me. Don't be so surprised, little Sariah."

"I'm not Sariah; she's a different being." Amber sensed the Scouts had already left, but didn't worry. She could always catch up. _After I find out what the heck Ishizu's doing following me._

Ishizu's face grew serious again. "You know the Items have all been located, correct?"

"Yes." After being with Yugi and the gang so much, it wasn't news to Amber.

"They are all coming to Egypt. The Bracelet, the Item of Light, must join them, or all shall be lost." Ishizu stepped closer to the now slightly annoyed freckled girl.

"Why did you follow me, though?" Amber's annoyance seeped from her voice like water from an overfull cup. "With my- well, Sariah's – powers, I can find out where that reunion point is."

"There is one thing you must know," Ishizu calmly stated, a slight plea escaping the words, undetectable by all but Amber the telepath. Now directly in front of Amber, she took Amber's right palm. With her finger, she traced the three dominant lines on it, and the eye symbol from the bracelet glowed as an image of it glowed on Amber's palm itself. "The map and the prophecy Sariah holds. The memory linked to them will reveal them when it is time." Saying nothing more, she dropped Amber's hand and left.

Amber just stood there, dumb as a stuffed animal, face frozen in confusion. She looked at her palm, only to see the symbol disappear. _Map? Prophecy? Memory? What on Earth does Ishizu mean? If only she didn't have a wall around her mind! _Amber thought, frustrated as she watched the mystical Egyptian woman walk out the hotel door.

"Amber! What was that woman doing!" Lita rushed back down the stairs, Rini and Serena behind her.

Amber jumped, still half in her thoughts. "Oh, she was just reading my palm," she stammered in a false explanation. She surprised herself with the sneaky little lie.

"She wasn't dressed like a fortune teller," Serena replied, looking oddly at Amber.

"It's only a side hobby; she works for some big corporation, really. At least I think so." _Why am I lying? I've never been able to lie so easily! _Her fingers trembled where they hung at her sides.

"Oh. Well, our stuff is in our rooms," Serena said, pointing to the staircase.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Amber followed her three friends up the stairs, forcing herself not to think of what happened. _I won't think of it until I find... find what? Clues? Oh, who knows!_

~*~*In another area of the hotel~*~*

"Wheeeee!" Rebecca flopped again on the bed. "I've never had so much fun with a bed before!"

Prof. Hawkins just laughed. "You haven't had so much energy since you were dueling Yugi!"

"I know!" Rebecca smiled, laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"This is a really nice hotel," Tea commented, feeling the plush cover of the red chair she was sitting in.

"Oh yeah!" Joey shouted from the other room.

"What's that?" cam Tristan's voice. "Oh, sweet!"

Serenity walked in from the boy's room through the adjoining door, laughing as though she breathed happiness.

"What's so funny?" Tea asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, my brother just found some old TV show he used to watch when we were little," Serenity said through laughter. "And he's acting like he did when he watched it back then!" She fell onto a bed laughing.

"Apparently Tristan likes it, too," Tea commented as another of Tristan's outbursts rang in both rooms.

Yugi sat on the floor, fingering the Puzzle, like he started doing recently when he was in deep thought.

"Yugi, why aren't you in the other room?" Tea leaned forward in the chair.

Yugi looked up, smiling at Tea's expression of concern. "They're being too loud, and I need to think."

Tea nodded; she did agree with that, seeing as she could hear their voices through the wall. A slit of sunlight from the window shone off the Puzzle. Tea asked. "Are you still thinking about what happened?"

"Yeah, and I still feel glimpses of that energy," Yugi replied softly as he stared at the Puzzle. "Some of it is attached to the Puzzle. It's just... I don't know what to make of it."

_His face is so dark and troubled... _Tea thought unhappily. _I wish I knew what I could do to help him._

They sat there in silence, listening to Joey and Tristan from the other room and Serenity's and Rebecca's conversation from the opposite side of the room. Finally, the two grandpas entered.

"Are you all ready to explore the marketplace?" Mr. Muto asked, smiling.

"Nah," Rebecca yawned as she stretched. "I want sleep now."

"That's a surprise," Tea laughed. "I thought you'd be bouncing off the walls until 2 am."

"Nope, the jet lag's finally crushing my brain." Rebecca yawned again. "G'night." She turned over on the bed and fell asleep in an instant.

Serenity sighed. "I wish I could sleep that easily."

"With those two shouting like they are in the other room, I doubt I will at all," Yugi said with a smirk.

Serenity's smile in response lasted only a second. "It's just... Something's bothering me, but I don't know what."

"How is it bothering you?" Mr. Muto asked, concerned.

"I don't know. I just have this feeling of... There's more to our visit here. It's like- well, like we're supposed to be here for something." Serenity stared out the window at the nearly full moon, her face solemn.

"You're starting to sound like Yugi now," Tea teased. Then, standing up, she added soothingly, "How about you get some sleep? Whatever that is will probably stop bothering you in the morning."

"Okay." Serenity's smile returned in a flash. "I think I will."

"Well," Yugi said as he stood up, "I think I'm going to go to the other room to get some shut-eye myself, as Joey puts it."

"Okay, good night," Serenity and Tea said at once as Yugi left the room.

"Good night, Yugi. Good night girls," Mr. Muto said as Prof. Hawkins said, "Good night."

Yugi snuck past Joey and Tristan as their childhood show continued to play. Despite their cheery "Oh, I remember this!" moments and shocked "I don't remember that!" comments, Yugi wasn't in the mood to join them. He remembered the show too, but he had other things on his mind.

Dragging a bag out of his suitcase and to the bathroom, he closed and locked the door behind him. _I'll tell the others about bringing them later, when I find out exactly why I did._ "Such the strangest impression," Yugi murmured as he zipped open the bag, revealing the other three Millennium Items he'd been entrusted with: The Millennium Rod, the Millennium Eye, and the Millennium Necklace.

_Wait... there were four Items._ Eyes wide open, Yugi pushed aside the Rod and Necklace. _Marik gave me the Rod AND the Ring... This isn't good._ He searched everywhere in the bag, unzipping all the pockets. Even after removing the other three items and replacing them again, the Ring was not to be found. "Yami, I can't find it!"

_**Can't find what?**_ Yami asked as his ghostly form appeared beside Yugi.

_The Millennium Ring! Marik entrusted me with it and... _Moaning, Yugi buried his face in his hands. "I shouldn't have been trusted with this..."

"_**Yugi, you're fine,"**_ Yami reassured him, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "_**There's a hole there in the corner of the bag." **_Pointing at the large hole, Yami continued, _**"It probably just fell out of there into your suitcase."**_

"Yeah, you're probably right." Yugi sighed as he picked up and fingered the necklace. "If only the Items could speak. Even then, would they tell me their purpose here? What is that purpose?"

"_**Only time can tell why they're needed here," **_Yami's voice sounded in Yugi's mind. "_**I, myself, am not sure of the reason the Items need to be here in Egypt now, but I have a feeling it will be made known to us soon."**_

_Yes, soon... _Yugi's thoughts trailed off. _Soon, I hope, this mystery can and will be solved._

_

* * *

_(Author's Notes below)

Yugi: Wait a sec... that detail about the Ring wasn't in your last draft.

MU: No it wasn't, because I had no idea Yugi had been given the Ring and the Rod by Marik until I watched the Battle City arc recently.

Rini: You really didn't know Yugi's world so well the first time, did you?

MU: ... *glare* Don't mock me for it, girl.

Rini: *sweatdrop* I wasn't! Honest!

Yugi: Anyways... to all of Mew's readers out there, if you'd leave a review it would make her day!

MU: Indeed it would! :D


	4. Chapter 4

*~*~The next day~*~*

"Oh boy, that hotel is nice!" Serena yawned as she stretched, walking with the rest of her friends along the sand-colored sidewalk. "I could have slept in that bed for another hour!"

"You probably would have if I hadn't tickled you," Raye smirked, tilting her wide-brimmed hat to shield the morning sun from her eyes.

"Which wasn't necessary, Raye!" Serena retorted, but Amber held up a hand to interrupt her.

"Serena, Raye, do you hear that?" Amber cupped her head around her ear.

The twosome fell silent. "All I hear is the market up ahead," Raye said with a shrug.

"No, that other thing. It's the winds of change," Amber quoted from _Monsters Inc._

Raye and Serena both had giant sweat drops on their heads and exasperated looks on their faces as Amber had a cheesy grin on her face.

"Hey, I was being half-serious with that remark!" Amber insisted, hands in front of her innocently, her own tiny sweat drop on her forehead.

Amy's dad laughed. "Are you sure there is even such thing as half-serious, young lady? In my book, you're either joking or serious."

Amber shrugged. "Not always; I deal with sarcasm every day, with is pretty much—"

"Look! There's the guy with the monkey!" Rini interjected, pointing at a dark-skinned man with a turban on his head and a monkey on his shoulder. "Let's go back and find him after we do some exploring!"

"And some shopping!" Mina added, eyes shining with the stylistic over exaggerated stars in them.

"Yes!" Serena agreed, eyes with stars in them.

Amber and Lita laughed. "Typical," Lita said, "but hey, let's go!"

While the Scouts and Amy's dad were nearly to the marketplace, Yugi and the gang weren't quite out the door of the hotel yet.

"Wake up, you silly!" Tea yanked at the leg sticking out under the covers of one of the beds in the boys' room.

The figure rolled over. "Just one more hour of sleep," Tristan moaned.

"Geez, dude, you're worse than me in the morning!" Joey yelled. "And believe me, I'm not a morning person!"

"Guys! Ishizu's here!" Yugi ran into the room shouting.

"Who's here?" Tristan suddenly sat up.

"Ishizu! I didn't say anything to her, but she just told me to find the warrior moon princess and unite the Items." Yugi scratched his head. "I understand the Items part, but what's all this about a warrior princess?"

"I'm lost, too," Joey shrugged as Tristan got out of, then fell out of, bed. "But hey, a warrior princess sounds like my kind of girl!"

"Joey!" Tea elbowed Joey in the ribs, smiling. "She might not go for your type." Joey looked forlorn as blue lines appeared on his head.

Yugi just laughed as all of this occurred. "Whatever Ishizu meant, if we're supposed to find a princess, she'll probably be hard to find."

"Yeah, no kidding," Tristan shouted from the bathroom. He walked out fully dressed. "Royalty doesn't like to be out in the open, as far as I know."

"Publicity," Tea agreed.

"Maybe we're thinking the wrong kind of princess…" Yugi trailed off.

"What do you mean?" Tea asked.

"What princess?" Rebecca poked her head into the room.

"Agh!" Joey jumped. "You totally scared me, girl!"

"Serenity, Grandpa, Mr. Muto and I are getting impatient waiting for you. Are you ready?" The pony tail haired girl pouted, sticking out her lower lip.

"Yes, we're coming," Yugi replied with a sigh.

"Great!" Rebecca smiled, then asked, "What princess were you talking about?"

"It's just something someone told me, but not a big deal right now," Yugi replied, waving his hands out in front of him.

"Yeah, it's nothing to worry about," Tristan agreed. "Now, we're off to market!" With whoops from all around, the group headed down to the front of the hotel.

_**What Ishizu said about a warrior princess confuses me, too,**_ Yami Yugi commented in Yugi's head. _**Yet, it sounds oddly familiar, too…**_

_Don't worry about it,_ Yugi replied.

_**You tell me not to worry, yet neither of us found the Millennium Ring anywhere,**_ Yami Yugi chastised, but making sure to keep his voice calm.

Yugi sighed, running his fingers through his bangs. _I know... and I know I brought it with us. We'd better be on the lookout for it... and its former owner._

_**Agreed. **_Yugi could feel the spirit tremble slightly.

_I bet we'll find out clues to this mystery later, too. Until then, let's enjoy ourselves._

_**Yes, it's been so long since I've been here. Maybe I will regain some memories during our stay.**_

_Maybe, _Yugi reiterated. To himself, he thought, _I hope you remember things that will help with this whole mystery, Yami._

_

* * *

_*~*~At the marketplace~*~*

Amy and Amber leaned over an array of gorgeously crafted gold jewelry. "Oh my! What do these symbols mean, Daddy?"

Mr. Mizuno looked at what his daughter was examining. "Those are ancient Egyptian, even before the picture characters you're familiar with. They may say a person's name or the name of an ancient Pharaoh, I can't quite tell."

As Mr. Mizuno told Amy more history about the jewelry, Amber listening fascinated, the others were looking at another stall with a variety of woven goods- bags, purses, clothing, and other marvelously crafted items.

"Hey guys, what do you think of this one?" Mina picked up a brightly colored purse with a thin shoulder strap long enough to extend diagonally from one shoulder to the other hip. She slung it over one arm.

"Ooo, it's pretty!" Rini exclaimed, her fingers gingerly touching the purse.

"It works really well! You should get it!" Serena commented excitedly.

"I agree," Lita smiled, folding her arms across her chest.

"I think I will," Mina replied as she pulled out her wallet from her bag.

"Serena," Luna said from Serena's bag, poking her head out, "where's your compact? I can't sense it in your pocket."

Serena gasped as she stuck her hand in her shorts pocket. "Oh no! It must have fallen out!"

"Quick, go check near the last stall we were at," Luna exclaimed hastily.

"Okay, I'll be back!" Serena told her friends and hurried as best she could through the crowd. _Why do I have to be so clumsy? It must have fallen out when I tripped— _Her foot caught on a crack in the sidewalk. Yelping, she collided head on with a young man with spiky hair.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Serena bowed in apology, but when she stood up straight, she gasped. Sure, she realized that the boy with a shocked expression had black and magenta hair with blonde bangs instead of blonde hair, but there was no mistaking him.

"You're the one from the plane!" they shouted at once, pointing at each other. They lowered their fingers, but just stood and stared. _That energy…_

They just stood and stared, both sensing the different energies, until Amber arrived. "Milady, is there something wrong?" Amber asked, joining Serena. She then noticed the young man and gasped. "Yugi!" She exclaimed happily, jumping and throwing her arms around his neck.

Yugi came out of his shock. "Hey Amber!" he exclaimed as he awkwardly returned her hug.

Amber pulled away, asking with a laugh, "What are you doing here, pal?"

"Professor Hawkins invited me, Grandpa, and the rest of the gang to come."

"They're all here? Sweet!" Amber jumped around. "This is so great!"

"Wait, you know each other?" Serena asked in confusion, motioning at the two of them.

"Yep!" Amber replied. "He and I have been best friends since we were little. He lives in Domino City near the part of Tokyo I live in."

"Oh," was Serena's response. "Pleased to meet you…"

"Yugi Muto. You don't need to be all formal or anything, just Yugi is fine."

Serena smiled. _He's very friendly, despite the odd energy I sense._ "Please to meet you, Yugi. I'm Serena Tsukino."

"Pleased to meet you, Serena."

She smiled, then remembered her compact. "Sorry for running into you, I'm just looking for something I lost," Serena explained.

"What are you looking for?" Yugi asked.

Surprisingly, Serena then noticed that he was about her height, thus making him about five or six inches shorter than Amber. Shaking her head to bring her back to reality, she began, "A compact, about the size of my palm, heart-shaped, with these decorations on the outside—"

"Do you mean this?" He pulled Serena's compact out of his pocket and held it out to her.

"Oh, yes! Thank you so much!" Serena quickly took back the compact.

"You're welcome! A friend of Amber's is a friend of mine," Yugi replied smiling.

Smirking, Amber added, "I'm just glad Yugi found it and not someone else." She gave Serena a sideways pointed look.

Growling, Serena yelled, "Hey, it's not like I did it on purpose!"

"Hey, Yug! Where are ya, bud?" A voice called out, interrupting Serena.

"Over here, Joey!" Yugi turned and yelled in the direction of the voice. A tall blonde boy in a T-shirt and jeans approached, and he was considerably taller than Serena.

The boy smirked. "Running into more cute girls again, Yugi?"

"Joey!" Yugi's checks were slightly pink with embarrassment. "It's not like I try to or anything!"

"I know, I know!" Joey protested, holding his hands up in mock surrender. He then turned to Serena. "What's your name?"

"Serena Tsukino."

"Hey Joey!" Amber piped up from next to Serena.

"It's a pleasure, Serena. Joey Wheeler," he shook Serena's hand, "and whoa! I'm surprised to see you, Amber!"

"I know!" Amber gave Joey a quick hug, wrapping her arms around his torso. "Where's everyone else?"

Joey returned her hug, then replied, "I left them at a fruit stand back there." He pointed behind him with his thumb. "After all, Yug here needs protection from collisions." Yugi punched Joey's arm lightly, his cheeks pink with embarrassment.

"Yugi! There you are!" a girlish voice piped up, tackling Yugi's arm. Clinging to it, Rebecca chimed, "I thought I'd lost you! I was soooo worried!" She rested her head on his shoulder; Yugi and Amber both sighed.

Serena blinked at the child in surprise, but Amber introduced Rebecca, saying, "She's a girl I know from the states... and apparently there's a development between her and Yugi that she never told me about." Crossing her arms over her chest, Amber scolded Rebecca, "Don't I get a greeting? Even just a hug?" Her smile made it obvious she was teasing.

"Huh?" Rebecca jerked her head up. "Oh, of course, Amber! Hi!" Both girls laughed as Rebecca gave Amber a full-fledged hug.

Soon, the Scouts had noticed Serena and Amber talking with the two boys and Rebecca and joined them. By then, though, the crowd started to build as the sun began to rise.

"How about you join us for lunch?" Mr. Mizuno asked Yugi as a girl with short brown hair and blue eyes joined Joey and Rebecca.

"That'll be great!" Yugi said.

"Yeah," Joey agreed. "It'd help me learn all your names!"

The girls laughed. "Well, we're heading to the restaurant now. See ya there!" Amber replied, starting to turn around.

"Hey, what about me?" the brown-hair girl asked.

"Hey Tea!" Amber gave her a hug. "You're invited, too! The whole gang is!"

"Awesome! I'll see you there!" Tea replied.

"See ya!" With that, the Scouts and Mr. Mizuno left.

As Tea, Yugi, Rebecca and Joey began walking down the path again, Joey asked, "Was that Serena girl the one you ran into the first time?"

"Yeah," Yugi replied, "but could you sense the energy?"

"I don't think so."

"Energy?" Rebecca, still grasping Yugi's arm, gave him an odd look.

"Maybe I just did because of the Puzzle," Yugi replied to Joey, ignoring Rebecca. "It doesn't just emanate from her compact, but also from her. It's not dark, just… odd."

"I'll take your word for it, dude." Joey shrugged, then smirked. "She's a nice girl, anyhow."

"I agree," Yugi said with a smile.

"Yugi, I'm confused," Rebecca pouted.

With a sweatdrop on his head, Yugi stammered, "Uh, don't worry about it, ok?"

"Oh! I need to go ask Grandpa something!" Rebecca announced, releasing her grip on Yugi and running away.

"Finally, she leaves..." Tea smiled with relief. "I'm kind of suspicious of the energy thing you mentioned, Yugi," she commented, "but hey, if she's a friend of Amber's, I can trust her." She shrugged. "Same with those other girls; let's go grab the others and head over to meet them!"

"Yeah!" the boys chorused.

*~*~On the way to the restaurant~*~*

"Hey, Amber," Lita asked as Mr. Mizuno drove the rental car to the restaurant, "how do you know those guys?"

"They live near me, so we've become good friends," Amber replied. "I've also been friends with Yugi since I was little."

"How come we've never met them before?" Raye asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…" Amber bit her lip and fumbled with the words in her mind. _I can't just say 'Because they're from a different dimension.' What can I say?_ A long pause ensued before she finally replied, "I just never found a time for us all to get together, plus this worry of mine of what will happen when I have two different groups of friends together…"

"You had nothing to worry about, Amber!" Mina replied, slapping Amber on the back.

Coughing, Amber squeaked, "Hey, that hurt!"

"Mina's right, though; they're nice guys," Serena commented. She stared off into space with a dreamy smile as she added, "Not as cute as Darien, but nice."

"Hey, I thought the tall blonde was good-looking," Lita remarked, poking Serena's shoulder.

"It's just so odd…" Raye murmured.

"What's odd?" Rini asked, tapping her feet together.

"I sensed a very old energy coming from that pyramid the shorter boy wore. Not evil, just old," Raye responded. She stroked her chin as she stared down in thought.

"Yes, it's very odd," Luna piped up from Serena's bag. Artemis popped out of Mina's bag.

"You can sense it, too?" Serena asked Raye.

"Yeah. I didn't say it before, but back on the plane I sensed it, too. It's odd…" Raye trailed off, looking out the window.

"I thought something weird was up on the plane," Rini interjected.

Amber winced, clenching her hands. _How did they sense the energy of the Puzzle? Sure, Raye can sense energy, but Serena and Rini… Was it because of the Silver Crystal?_

Amy looked up from her mini computer at Amber. "Are you okay?"

_Gah, I have to stop spacing off! _Amber scolded herself. "Oh, yeah," she replied hastily looking at her friend. "What'cha doing on your laptop?"

"Well…" Amy stopped typing, her fingernails tapping a key nervously. She was hesitant about mentioning the distress signal, which she had been tracking part of the trip, with her dad in hearing distance, since he didn't know about her secret identity.

Luckily, she was saved. "We're here, ladies." Mr. Mizuno announced. He parked the car and turned off the engine. "Ready to try some exotic dishes?"

"Oh yes!" they chorused, Serena the loudest.

"I'm ready for food!" Serena added.

"You're always ready for food," Raye and Lita said in unison. Everyone laughed as Mr. Mizuno opened the side door.

He waved his arm out with exaggerated flourish. "Mademoiselles, we have arrived."

Amy giggled. "Oh, Daddy," she said as he gently helped her down by the hand. He did the same for every girl in turn.

"We'll probably have to reserve a private room with your other friends coming," Mr. Mizuno commented to Amber smiling.

"Yeah there are about…" Amber looked up and counted them off mentally. "… eight people with them, I guess."

"Very well, a room it is!" The girls followed Mr. Mizuno inside.

From inside the restaurant, a man wearing a black cape watched the group of girls enter. Only his mouth and glimpses of white hair could be seen from under his hood, as though he was a phantom hiding under the cloak. Smiling, he took a sip of coffee and, following them with his eyes, placed some money on the table. His eyes fell on a young lady with auburn hair, brown eyes, and freckles, wearing khakis and a babydoll shirt, and noticed a hint of gold on her wrist.

_Yes, she has it,_ the man thought, a wicked sneer on his face. Standing up, he left the restaurant out the back door, thinking, _I will track you down, Sariah. That Bracelet will get me the Puzzle and the Millennium Items for sure!_

_

* * *

_

(Author's notes below)

Yugi: Why, Mew? WHY?

MU: ... Why what?

Yugi: Why'd you throw in Rebecca like that? She clung to me and tortured me!

Rini: You could have just told her to leave...

MU: Yeah, but Rini, he's far too kind to be so rude. Anyways, Yugi-kun, the reason why I did is because the first time around I didn't know Rebecca had a crush on you. Like I said in an earlier revised chapter, I didn't know a lot about Yu-Gi-Oh when I first started writing this. That's why I also added the stuff about the Millennium Ring in...

Rini: By the way, Mew loves reviews!

MU: Yes, and especially let me know if the changes make sense or not! :D


	5. Chapter 5

It wasn't long before Yugi and his friends arrived at the restaurant and were directed to a room for private parties. The whole restaurant was American style, low yellow lights illuminating individual tables, with Egyptian decorating and music. It resembled an Olive Garden restaurant Yugi remembered Amber showing him pictures of back home. _I can't wait to see Amber... and hopefully Rebecca will stop clinging to me._ He glanced sideways at the girl in question whose ponytails brushed his ears as she held to his elbow.

As they walked down to the room, Prof. Hawkins turned to Yugi and asked, "So, how do you know these young ladies again?"

Yugi smiled shyly. "I only know one of them, Amber Dawson. The others I just met today when I ran into that one girl."

"Serena," Joey reminded him.

"Yeah, that's her name." Blinking in surprise, he turned his eyes up to meet Joey's. "How come you remember it so easily?" he asked.

Joey shrugged. "'Cause that's how I roll." he said, still smirking.

"Yeah, right," Tristan retorted behind him, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Yet you forgot my name the first month I knew you."

"Y'know guys, you'd better not fight like this around Amber and her other group of friends," Tea shot at the twosome, hands on her hips. "You'll give all those girls the wrong impression of you."

"Yeah, and it's not like- oh never mind," Tristan cut himself off as he opened the door for the rest of the gang.

Rebecca released Yugi's arm and darted into the room. "Hello!" she said as she waved to Amber, who was sitting with a group of about seven girls and an older man.

Amber interrupted her conversation with a pink haired girl with bunny-ear shaped buns and looked over at Rebecca. "Hey Becca!" she replied as she got up from the table. Rebecca ran to her and the two girls hugged. Amber gave hugs to everyone else except Mr. Muto and Prof. Hawkins.

Joey looked over all the girls, Amber's friends, and suddenly stopped when he made eye contact with a tall brown-haired, brown-eyes girl, wearing blue jean shorts and a green form-fitting T-shirt. The two just stared, frozen, the thought both running through their minds, _Oh my gosh!_

"It's so crazy how we all ended up in Egypt at the same time!" Amber exclaimed excitedly. "What are you guys doing here, anyways?"

"I invited them to come with me to an archeological dig," Prof. Hawkins replied, "since it's been years since I've been at one."

"Which site are you going to?" the older, dark-haired man asked, standing. By then, all of the girls were also standing.

"Mr. Jones is overseeing the sight," Prof. Hawkins replied.

"That's the site I'm taking these young ladies to see tomorrow," the man replied. "I'm Yasuo Mizuno," he introduced himself, holding out his hand to Prof. Hawkins.

"Professor Arthur Hawkins," Prof. Hawkins replied, his wrinkled hand shaking Mr. Mizuno's strong hand.

"So we're also going to see you tomorrow, then?" the blue-haired girl next to Mr. Mizuno asked Prof. Hawkins.

"That does seem to be the case," Prof. Hawkins replied laughing.

"Oh my gosh, this is so cool! Oh, ha, I need to introduce you all," Amber laughed. Gesturing to the Scouts, Amber introduced each of them to Yugi and the gang, then Amber introduced Yugi and the gang to the Scouts. They greeted each other, and Amber said, "Oops, you guys should have sat down already," as she pulled out some chairs from the long table.

Yugi laughed. "Don't worry, there's no need to be formal among friends," he reassured Amber, placing a hand on her arm.

"True," Amber agreed with a laugh. "I'm just a worry wart by nature, I guess." She shrugged, glancing over at Joey.

Joey pulled out Amber's chair and gently pushed it back in when Amber was seated. "Well, you don't need to worry anymore, Miss Dawson." He looked up, and sure enough, the brown-haired girl was still looking at him, fingering her ponytail, a shy smile on her face. Joey sat down two seats away from Amber directly in front of her. "So, you're Lita?"

"Yep," Lita smiled. "And you're Joey?"

"Yep, that's me! Where are you from?" And with that, the whole table began in conversation once everyone was seated, interrupted only when a young man with brown skin and black hair hidden beneath a turban, the waiter, came and took their order. Prof. Hawkins and Mr. Muto were discussing archeology and art with Mr. Mizuno, while the Scouts and the gang were all having various conversations among themselves. Rini and Rebecca got along very well, seeing as they were close in age, and Lita and Joey got into a very interesting discussion of fighting styles- street, karate, and everything in between.

As they discussed tae-kwon-do, Yugi leaned over and commented to Amber, "Those two both seem the violent type, don't you think?"

Amber's confused looked melted to a laugh in seconds. "I never thought of that before! Yeah, Lita knows martial arts very well, and considering Joey's background, they seem to work great together."

Amy gasped. "You don't suppose-"

Amber laughed. "No, not that they're madly in love or anything. Just a friendship with some- other feelings mixed in as well."

"Uh, that wasn't what I was going to ask..." Amy muttered, looking at her lap. Her father, noticing her change of mood, grasped her shoulder in a gentle, loving motion.

"If anything does develop, I won't be surprised," Raye commented. "Lita falls for guys left and right."

"That's nice to know," Yugi said with a sweat drop on his head, voice obviously sarcastic and worried.

Serenity and Serena heard this through their talking, noticed Joey and Lita, then Serenity commented, "Joey can be a sucker for a pretty face sometimes."

Serena giggled, and Amber just busted up laughing. "Oh, heck yes, like that one time when-"

"When what? What are you talking about?" Joey interrupted, him and Lita both looking over at the gossiping girls. The afore mentioned group went silent.

"Oh, nothing," Amber said with an all-so innocent smile at Serena. Both girls started giggling madly behind their hands. Amber stopped giggling suddenly when the turban-wearing waiter returned with their drinks. Suddenly, she sensed the ancient energy coming from his mind that she hadn't noticed before while distracted. His deep black eyes met hers for a second as he set the drinks down.

_He has returned. Return the Pharaoh to his tomb._

Amber jumped at the words that entered her mind. The voice saying them wasn't her own, nor were they Sariah's, but nothing else happened as the waiter gave the Professor his drink and said their food would be ready shortly. Turning, he walked away, leaving Amber to mull over the occurrence.

"Hey, Amber," Rebecca poked her knee. "You okay?"

Amber 's head snapped in Rebecca's direction. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

Rebecca smiled that knowing, mischievous smile of her. "He's cute, isn't he?"

_Why must she always do that?_ "No, not really, just strange."

"What? I mean, almost all guys here wear turbans."

"That's not why he's strange." A small sweat drop appeared then disappeared on Amber's head. "It's… something else… I don't really want to talk about it at the moment," Amber finished softly at the sight of Rebecca's curious puppy look.

Again, nothing happened when the waiter returned with their food, other then Amber could again sense the energy, albeit a lot weaker. _He must be trying to conceal his… aura, or whatever it is._ No one else seemed to notice, except Raye, who gave Amber a stern-with-business look, her way of saying silently they had something to check out.

Amber nodded and turned to her food and an enthusiastic Rini who'd spilled her pink lemonade. As a waitress came over to clean up the mess, Sariah popped up into Amber's head. _He wants to meet with us later, either us or Yugi and the Pharaoh._

_How do you know?_

_We've been talking for a while, now. He'd rather meet with the Pharaoh, to be honest._

_Then we'll let him. I'll tell Yugi-_

_He says for us not to tell the Pharaoh or the Pharaoh's host about the meeting. They'll find out._

_What? But what if-_

"Thank you so much," Rini told the waitress, bringing Amber back into reality like a slam-dunk in basketball.

"Whoa, that was sudden," Amber whispered.

"What was?" Rebecca asked.

"Oh, nothing." More easily than before, Amber put out of her mind the occurrence and conversed with the others around her.

Meanwhile, inside Amber's mind, Sariah stressed about the meeting. _Why now, Fate? WHY NOW?_

_

* * *

_(Author's Notes)

MU: **looks around** Well, Yugi and Rini aren't here like they usually are... So, anyways, this is the last of my revising chapters so far! Since this is my most popular story, I figured this ought to be revised. Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy the rest of it! Once you do finish it, would you be so kind as to let me know what you think of it? Even (or maybe especially) critiques are greatly appreciated. :D

Oh, and while I'm thinking about it... if you're curious as to what Amber and Sariah look like, look up my deviantArt profile Mew-Universe. I have a few pictures of both of them; the ones with AJ in the title is Sariah's modern form/Amber and Sariah dueling together.


	6. Chapter 6

MU: Holy moley! I've definitely let RL catch up with me!

Yugi: You sure did! I've been waiting to-

MU: Anyways, here's the next chapter! Thanks to everyone that has reviewed and given me feedback! Trust me, a lot of it is gonna go into future chapters... (although don't ask for a Yugi/Serena pairing please, I won't add it). Sailor Moon and Yu-Gi-Oh! are owned by their respective creators and companies, and the only characters I personally own in the story are Amber and Sariah.

----

Chapter 6

"Wow, that was good food!" Joey leaned into the back of his chair.

"Indeed!" Mina replied. Then, with a sneaky smile, she said, "Y'know, I haven't had food this delicious since I tried Lita's cooking a couple months ago."

"Wait- you cook?" Joey asked Lita, jolting upright suddenly.

Lita laughed. "Yes, I do… Didn't I mention that earlier?"

"Well, you mentioned taking a class, but I didn't know you could actually cook!" Joey held up his hands. "No offense meant, but…"

"None taken," Lita said smiling. Staring into her brown eyes, Joey returned a small, shy smile himself.

Normally Amber would have watched this scene on in adoration, with a loud giggle or an "Aw, how cute!", except she had the current mystery on her mind. She began thinking more and more about the odd coincidence of the Scouts meeting up with Yugi and his friends, the incident with the waiter, and the mere fact that they were all in Egypt at the same time even more when Prof. Hawkins told Mr. Mizuno that they were staying in the same hotel as the Scouts. Amber thought exasperated, running her fingers through her curly red-brown hair, _It's as if… this was all planned out by something… or someone… GRR!!! This is just so befuddling!_

_Maybe you should wait to think about it until Yugi and the others have left._

_Well, Sariah, it certainly doesn't help that-_ "Hey, Amber," Yugi said, grabbing Amber's arm to get her attention.

"Oh, hey," Amber said to snap herself out of her short conversation with Sariah. Everyone else around her was finishing up their food and conversing. _It's awesome how everyone from both groups of friends gets along so well- especially Lita and Joey._ "Had a good time today?"

"Yeah, today's been amazing, especially considering how I'm finally in Egypt, and how I happened to run into you." Yugi smiled as he released her arm, then he gave her a pointed look. "I did try to call you when Prof. Hawkins invited us."

"I'm sorry, bud." Amber twirled her thumbs around each other. "I was busy trying to get my parents to let me come with the Sc- I mean, my other friends and packing up my gear. I did get your voice mails later, though, but I couldn't return them since I was on the plane."

"Ah." Yugi then lowered his voice slightly, his smile fading slightly. "I was on the same plane as you."

Amber jumped in shock. "You were?" Her voice was quieter as well.

"Yes; I ran into Serena there as well as at the market. I just didn't know her the first time."

_So it __was__ Yugi that Serena collided with on the plane,_ Amber confirmed mentally. "Interesting…"

"My thoughts exactly, only with stronger word usage without cussing," Yugi said with a smirk. "It seems to me as if we were supposed to meet- our gang and your other friends, I mean."

"I know!" When Amber noticed the others around her standing up and pushing their chairs in, Amber said, "Let's talk about this later, maybe when we meet up tomorrow or something."

"Sure," Yugi agreed swiftly, standing up. Amber stood up herself and saw Joey pushing in Lita's chair for her. Amber smiled when she saw everyone talking and getting along so well- she still couldn't get over the fact the meeting went better than she thought. _Well, except for the part that they shouldn't have even been able to meet._

"…and that monkey of his was so funny!" Rini exclaimed to Rebecca.

"I know! I saw him when we were at the market earlier. It gave me a giant kiss on the cheek!" The two little girls busted up laughing.

"Hey!" Rini's face looked up, as though she'd just finished solving a word puzzle. "Didn't that waiter at our table look just like the guy with the monkey at the market?"

Amber stiffened. "Wait, what?"

"Our waiter; he looked a lot like the guy with the monkey on his shoulder at the market!" Rini repeated.

Amber replayed the events of the day in her mind. She did recall seeing him around where they were several times that day, and he did have a monkey then, but she didn't think anything of it at the time. Now she was sure he was up to something. _He must've been spying on us… but why? And who is he?_

Rebecca shrugged. "Maybe it's just a coincidence."

"No, I think he's the same guy," Raye commented, standing next to Amber. "He's got an interesting way of showing up where we're at."

"And I think you're just being paranoid, Raye!" Serena came up behind Raye, slapping her on the back hard.

Raye rubbed the sore spot. "Ow, that hurt, Serena!"

"Really? I've been practicing!" Serena beamed with a cheesy grin.

"Why you…" Raye mumbled, but Tea intervened.

"Where are you guys staying at?" Tea asked Raye and Amber. When Amber gave them the name of the hotel, Tea gasped. "That's the same hotel we're staying at!"

"Really?" Amber asked. _Okay, that way too much of a coincidence!_ She cocked her head slightly. "What floor are you on?"

"The sixth floor," Tea replied.

"Oh, we're on the third floor," Amber stated with a relieved smile. _If we'd been on the same floor, that would've been WAY too much of a coinkydink!_

"Lucky you!" Joey interjected, coming to stand next to Tea. "I had to lug so much luggage down two sets of stairs! And a hallway!"

"Oh, come on, Joey, surely the load wasn't that heavy for a strong guy like you," Lita teased, leaning slightly on Joey's shoulder, before Tristan could argue with Joey. Tristan's jaw dropped.

Joey smiled and blushed slightly. "Eh, it wasn't that it was heavy, it was just a bother. The elevators were taking too long, anyways." Lita just smirked with a small snicker.

Rini tapped Amber's shoulder and whispered, "Those two hit it off really, really well!"

Amber nodded, watching the two with empty eyes. "Yeah…" she replied distractedly. She heard Mina and Tea discussing some band she'd never heard of faintly, while Rini and Rebecca quietly giggled about something. Her mind wandered, searching telepathically- until she sensed them.

Just out the window leading to outside the restaurant, a man in a cloak stood there, gazing inside.

Sitting in a solitary booth not far from the private room was Ishizu.

The waiter finished taking orders from another table close by.

All three were watching their group, outside of the private room. All of them had connections with them. _But what? And why are they all here?_

Suddenly, the man outside shifted his head, until Amber could see his eyes. They pierced her, her mind becoming confused and blurry like a smudged photograph. She recognized him; Sariah screamed at him, _YOU! What are you doing here?!_

Amber leaned against the table, shaking. The man's voice echoed in her mind as he answered Sariah. _"I will get the Items from you, weakling!"_ Her breathing became strained, and she closed her eyes in an attempt to fight the fear and darkness she felt overshadowing her. He was powerful… or he had a powerful ally pushing against her mind.

"Amber?"

Amber could barely distinguish Yugi's voice from the turmoil invading her head. She was faintly aware of the other noise in the room dying as Yugi called her name again. She felt his hands on her shoulders, but before she could panic and remove them, her bracelet glowed. So did her compact from her pocket.

And Yugi's Millenium Puzzle glowed with them.

The glow subsided, and Amber stopped shaking, breathing normally. "Woah…" was all she could say.

"Amber, are you okay?" Rini exclaimed, grabbing Amber's forearm.

Tea added from just behind Rini, "It looked like you were having a seizure!"

"No, if it was a seizure it would have been worse," Amy replied, stepping forward and placing a cool hand on Amber's forehead. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Amber said smiling, waving away Amy's hand and Rini's and Yugi's grips on her. "It was nothing, really."

"Oh, come on, Amber, you're such a bad liar!" Joey protested. He was followed by several of the others objecting to her comment. Most of them looked concerned, or both concerned and angry.

_But I lied to the Scouts so convincingly earlier,_ was all Amber thought. "Just listen, alright?!" she finally shot back, a lion-fierce tone in her voice. She paused, and then said, "It's nothing to worry about. Really, I'm fine." Her smile was more genuine this time.

"Just don't wear yourself out, alright?" Mr. Muto asked, walking over to Amber and resting a hand on her shoulder. "It'd probably be best for you to go lay down."

Amber looked out at the afternoon light coming through the window. "But it's barely two o'clock," she contradicted. "I'm sure I'll be fine outside."

No one spoke for a while, then Mina piped up, "Well, then, let's head out! Amber looks good to me!"

Amber smiled gratefully and Mina and sent telepathically to her, _{Thank you.}_ Mina nodded slightly.

Lita stretched. "And I personally am getting restless here. Say! Joey, how about we have a little match outside?"

"Uh…" Joey scratched his head. "A match?"

"Yeah, a sparring match. You could show me your moves!"

"Oooh, no," Joey held up his hands, waving them. "I don't wanna break any bones of yours or bruise you or something-."

"Break my bones?!" Lita slapped Joey's back heartily as she asked the question in astonishment. Joey coughed from the power of the blow, and Lita added, "You won't be able to do anything like that! C'mon!" She grabbed his wrist and began dragging him to the door with a wide smile, and Joey snuck a wink at Yugi before allowing Lita to pull him away.

Yugi, meanwhile, simply shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Wow… and to think there was anyone remotely close to Joey…" His attention shifted to Amber again, however, as the adults began herding the teenagers out of the room. "Who was it?" he asked solemnly.

"Wha?" Amber cocked her head, confused.

"The one attacking you. Who was it?" Rini stood next to Yugi as Yugi's eyes bore into Amber's. Although Rini couldn't see it, Yami Yugi was staring just as intently at Sariah.

Amber looked down at the floor. "I don't know."

"What? How could you not know?!" Rini asked in shock, yanking on Amber's arm.

All Amber could do was shake her head sadly and slowly begin to walk towards the door.

"Yugi!" Rebecca bounded back into the room and grabbed Yugi by the arm. "C'mon! Lita and Joey are gonna start their spar!" She tilted her head onto Yugi's shoulder, and Yugi turned red from embarrassment.

Rini looked at the two, utterly confused as Amber turned and watched. "What the…" Rini began, but Rebecca quickly interjected.

"He's my boyfriend! Now let's go watch!" Rebecca happily dragged Yugi behind her, while Yugi shook his head at Rini to say silently that Rebecca's words were incorrect.

As Yugi walked out the door with Rebecca clinging to his arm, Rini asked Amber softly, "Has she always been like that?"

"Yeah." With that, the usually talkative, cheerful girl known as Amber walked sadly and quietly outside to join the Scouts and Yugi's friends.

---

Yugi: WHA?! That's soo sad! *tear*

MU: Hey, don't cry! Then you'll make me cry!

Rini: Me too!

MU: What the-? Where'd you...? Anyways, to cheerfully move onward, the next part I upload will be a mini-interlude- Lita vs. Joey! (No, they won't use Duel Monsters cards - the Scouts don't know about that yet)


	7. Interlude

Interlude – Lita vs. Joey

"Alright, let's see what you can do, then," Joey said confidently to Lita, cracking his knuckles. They stood about twelve feet apart from each other, both feeling just as confident as they looked. The entire group had moved down the street from the restaurant, the Scouts and the Domino City teens standing to one side of the street with the three adults.

"Believe me," Lita began, widening her stance slightly, "you'll be surprised." Her cocky grin matched Joey's almost perfectly.

"Wow, this is intense," Serenity muttered to Raye and Tea. "I've never seen Joey take on someone like this!"

"Yeah, especially a girl," Tristan added.

Raye smirked. "Well, Lita's had some good training in the martial arts. She even stayed on a mountain for months training with a master."

Tea paused. "Hey, how much training has Joey had in martial arts?"

Tristan blinked, looking out at Joey before turning his head back and replying, "Well, we do judo in PE class sometimes, and he gets into a lot of street fights, but other than that, I'm not sure."

"Wait, so Joey may not have as much training as Lita?" Mina asked with a shocked expression.

"And now Joey's taking her on?" Yugi asked with scared wide eyes.

Joey charged at Lita, fist clenched. Before his fist could connect, though, Lita slid to the side and grabbed his arm. With a grunt she flipped him onto his back and released his arm.

"Ow," Joey moaned, sitting up slowly.

"Oh boy, this is gonna be great!" Rebecca piped up happily, clinging to Yugi's arm as she watched the sparring duo excitedly. Rini and Yugi sighed in embarrassment.

"Hurry and get up, Joey!" Lita encouraged Joey with a laugh. "I never hit my opponents while they're down!" Her grin was mischievous and cunning.

"Eh, save your words!" Joey spat back, jumping onto his feet. With a war yell he charged at her again, both fists balled up for an attack. His first fist swung at her. She caught his arm, but his other fist hit her shoulder hard. In surprise, Lita released her grip on him and fell to the ground. She quickly recovered, though, and kicked at his leg. "WOAH!" Joey cried out as he fell backwards again.

"Father, shouldn't we stop this? One of them might get seriously hurt," Amy asked worriedly, looking up at her dad.

Mr. Mizuno ran his fingers through his dark hair. "Well, Amykins, I think it's alright right now. If it gets out of hand, us adults here will step in," he replied with an easygoing smile. Amy nodded in reply, smiling calmly herself, deciding not to reprimand her dad about calling her by her childhood nickname.

"Joey is getting creamed, though," Serena murmured from next to Amy, nervously pushing her pointer fingers against each other.

Joey jumped back onto his feet, only for Lita to charge at him and land a karate chop to the side. She spun around behind him before he could grab her, and she kicked, landing her ankle into his left side.

As the sparring match continued, a young boy walking by with an older boy suddenly had his attention drawn to the fight. The younger boy appeared about nine or ten years old with messy black hair, and he wore an orange vest over a T-shirt and jeans. "Hey, Seto," he said, looking up at his brown-haired briefcase-carrying brother. "It's Joey Wheeler pickin' a fight with some girl." He pointed at Joey and the girl, now circling each other slowly. Right at that moment Lita dodged a fist from Joey and kicked his ankle, sending him yet again to the ground.

The older boy, Seto, smiled wryly. "Looks like she's kicking Wheeler's butt. C'mon, Mokuba, let's watch how this plays out." He walked closer to the spar, Mokuba right next to him. Seto wore a long white vest that flowed out behind him like a cape over his dark shirt and pants. When his smile faded, his eyes still showed interest in the spar.

For a whole minute, neither Lita nor Joey were able to land any blows to each other. Mostly they circled each other or attempted to lash out at each other, only for their opponent to dodge right at the last moment. All spectators watching were spellbound, mesmerized by this dance of flying hands and feet.

Then, Joey landed a hit- his foot hooked Lita's waist and he kicked her in the lower back. Lita cried out and fell to the ground on her stomach. The adults, the Scouts and the Domino teens gasped; Amy, Rebecca and Rini clapped a hand over their mouths in shock. Groaning, Lita attempted to raise herself onto her hands and knees.

"Finally!" Joey yelled, fist raised triumphant. Then, he looked worried when he realized Lita wasn't as resilient to his last blow as she had been with other strikes. "Hey, Lita!" He ran to her and crouched by her. "You alright?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Lita choked out shakily. She closed her eyes and fists in pain.

"Uh, hey, how about we stop this now, k?" Joey stammered frightenedly. "See, this is why I didn't want to do this. I didn't want to hurt ya when I just met ya."

Lita's breathing was short and shaky. "N-no, i-it's ok," she said softly. Now she was kneeling with her hands on the ground.

"Wait, hold it," Joey said sternly. "You want to continue this?"

Lita put a hand over Joey's hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, in a second," she affirmed. A strange cocky smile crossed her face.

Suddenly she leaped and tackled Joey to the ground.

Everyone stared in confusion. "What the heck was that?" Tristan asked in outrage.

"Well, Lita can be tricky, and she is a good fighter," Raye commented, a finger on her cheek.

"Yeah, but I don't think anyone saw that coming," Yugi replied wide-eyed.

_**Not even I could have predicted that**_, Yami said to Yugi, appearing by Yugi's side. _**She is a strong fighter and will probably be a tough duelist, as well.**_

Rebecca let go of Yugi's arm and began cheering, "Woohoo! Go Lita!" She pumped her fist into the air, and Yugi proceeded to rub his arm to get circulation back into it.

Joey struggled under Lita's strong grip as she kept him pinned to the ground by his shoulders. "Hey! What the heck was that?" he shouted at Lita.

"One important lesson I've learned from my many years of training," Lita began unfazed. "Never try to help your opponent up until there is a winner declared."

"Say what?" Joey blurted. Angrily, he grabbed her wrists and shoved her off of him judo-style. With a shout, Lita righted herself before she could fall on her backside, but by then Joey was back on his feet. "Alright, then, no more goin' easy on ya!"

"You were going easy before?" Lita mumbled with an embarrassed sweat drop. "I don't think so."

The next punch Joey threw at Lita connected with her shoulder, pushing her backwards. She countered with a high kick right at his chest. Their spar quickly built back up to the rapid speed it was at before, both contenders landing hits and dodging shots.

"Man, when is this gonna end? They're both good!" Mokuba said, staring in awe at Joey and Lita.

"Not really," Seto replied, narrowing his eyes as he watched. "Joey's fought before, but it sounds like the girl actually has training in martial arts. Just watch, Wheeler's gonna lose badly."

Soon the spar began to wind down as Lita and Joey both became worn out. They both were a bit clumsier, but eventually Seto's prediction came true- right as Lita hooked her arm around Joey's neck and sent them both to the ground.

"So," Lita said from where she was on Joey's back, "I win." She smiled confidently.

"Y-yeah, you win," Joey replied weakly.

Lita got off Joey carefully, then stood and held her hand down towards Joey. Her brown eyes shown with pride and happiness. "You were a great opponent, even if you could use some work on your skill." With a laugh, she added, "Don't worry, I won't try to knock you down again. The spar's over."

With a small smile, Joey nods and accepts Lita's hand in standing up. The rest of the Domino teens and the Scouts crowd around Joey and Lita as soon as Joey is standing upright.

"Hm," Seto grunted, keeping his distance. "Nothing more to see here. C'mon, Mokuba." He turned and began walking away.

Mokube continued to watch the group for a few moments before he noticed Seto wasn't next to him. "Hey, Seto! Wait up!" Mokuba called after him, running to catch up.

Rini heard a boy's voice and turned to the side. She saw a black-haired boy about her own age attempting to catch up with an older boy. _Hm, I wonder who that is,_ she thought curiously.

Seto turned down a street parallel to the one Lita's and Joey's spar had occurred on, and when Mokuba followed him, something bright pink caught his eye. He turned his head and saw a girl with pink hair pulled up into two bunny-ear buns and ponytails wearing a white shirt and blue shorts.

He froze in his tracks and stared at her with wide blue eyes. _Wow, who is THAT? She's..._ he thought, his cheeks slightly pink.

"Mokuba," Seto growled.

Mokuba was jolted from his stupor. "Coming!" he called after Seto. He finally caught up with his older brother.

Rini simply blinked, staring where the boy had just been at. _Well, that was weird,_ she thought, confused.

"Wow, guys, you two were awesome!" Serena exclaimed, giving Lita a hug.

"Indeed you were!" Yugi affirmed with a grin. All of the excited teenagers complimented Joey and several congratulated Lita on winning.

"Well, thanks, but this was just a test run," Lita replied with a laugh. "Next time, Joey," she began, looking at Joey, but Joey waved his hand to cut her off.

"No thanks on the next time," Joey said, much to the astonishment of his close friends. "Listen, you covered it up real well, but I can tell your back still hurts. I don't wanna hurt a girl- especially you- like that again."

No one said a word, and Lita was far too surprised to do anything other than stammer, "Uh, well, y'see-"

"Joey, I never thought I'd see you turn down a challenge!"

Everyone turned to look at Amber as the red-head grinned and giggled. "I mean, honestly, it isn't like you!" she explained to Joey, embarrassed.

_Perfect time to come back to reality_, Sariah commented to Amber wryly as the she appeared invisibly next to her host.

_Oh, hush, big sister,_ Amber shot back, to which Sariah laughed.

"Normally I'd agree with ya," Joey remarked, a hand on the back of his head. "But really, it isn't a fair fight when a guy is against a girl like that."

Lita shrugged. "I suppose," she said nonchalantly, but then she winced slightly.

"You ok, Lita?" Raye asked, concerned.

"Yeah, definitely, my back will heal," Lita replied hastily.

"Perhaps you ought to lie down," Tristan suggested.

"No way! I'm fine!" Lita insisted. "Besides, we're here to sightsee in Egypt! The spar was just a sideshow!"

"You said it!" Amber agreed with a smile that showed her dimples.

_Amber seems to be coming back around,_ Yugi thought with a relieved smile.

_**That's good, but I wonder what happened to Amber back in the restaurant, **_Yami Yugi mused. _**Sariah won't talk to me about it.**_

_Doesn't she tell you basically everything?_ Yugi asked Yami.

_**Yes, but she has her odd reason for keeping secrets this time. I don't get it,**_ Yami replied seriously, crossing his invisible arms over his chest.

"Well, kiddos, it's getting late," Mr. Mizuno interjected into the group of chattering teenagers. "We've still got time to finish our walking tour, and we can also stop by the history museum if you want."

"Oh, I highly recommend that museum," Professor Hawkins interjected. "It's very informative and-"

"Grandpa, museums are everywhere! Let's see what Egypt has in store for us!" Rebecca interrupted.

"I agree with Rebecca," Amy added.

"Hey, I was about to say that!" Serena piped up, laughing.

"Alright, crew, we're off to adventure!" Mr. Mizuno exclaimed, leading the teenagers and additional two adults down the street.

_If only he knew what kind of adventures we've been in,_ both Yugi and Serena thought at the same time.

* * *

MU: Wow, sorry about not updating in a while, guys!

Yugi: Hey, you don't need to apologize about it.

MU: Well, I feel like it since it's been months and I've been so busy!

Yugi: But-

MU: One sec, Yugi-kun. Anyways, thanks to all of you that have favorited this story! There are so many that have I can't list them all! Oh, and thanks to ally, MoonDragon715, nami, Alycee Lanet, Angle of dark and light, and YugiAngel for posting reviews, I appreciate them all! A special thanks goes to PEJP Bengtzone for their constructive criticism and ideas- they actually helped me think of an idea that's now crucial to the main plot! :D Don't worry, you'll find out what that is.

Yugi: But when?

MU: ... Soon. I just put this interlude up to help develop crossover relationships, friendship and romantic, a little outside of the main plotline. Hence why it's an interlude. Anyways, coming up- the Kaiba brothers make a second appearance, and the Sailor Scouts discover the source of the distress signals! :D


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The mixed group of teenagers, along with their three adult guides, spent the rest of the day wandering through the marketplace in the city. They also visited several well-known landmarks and, much to Rebecca's relief, never stepped foot inside a museum. It turns out they didn't need it, seeing as Mr. Muto and Professor Hawkins both were experts on ancient Egypt and explained the history to enhance the group's experience.

Twilight faintly began to streak the sky like thin lines of paint as the large group of mostly teenagers approached their hotel. A chorus of laughter echoed through the high-ceiling lobby as the teens entered the door. Tristan and Yugi, being the gentlemen they are, cheerfully held the doors open for their group. Rebecca and Rini both burst in first, followed by Mr. Mizuno, Professor Hawkins, and Mr. Muto. The Sailor Scouts and the Domino City teens were rather slow in actually walking into the lobby, seeing as they were taking their time talking. Amy was discussing ancient Egyptian facts with her father and the adults; Joey, Lita, and Serenity were talking about martial arts and the cool sites they liked; and Serena, Raye, Mina, Tea, and Amber were flitting from topic to topic in their talking and laughter.

"Hey, you slowpokes!" Rebecca shot at the group. "Hurry up, will you?"

"You're one to talk," Raye seethed at the ponytail girl. "It took your grandpa ten minutes to drag you away from the snake charmer."

"It did not take ten minutes!" Rebecca exclaimed, stomping one foot on the ground. She glared at Raye, then her grandpa placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Rebecca, there's no reason to argue," he said to her gently with a hint of firmness. Rebecca looked up at him as he continued, "This is no place for an argument, either."

"I agree," Serena said to both Raye and Rebecca, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Hey, Yug, wanna play a game of Duel Monsters?" Joey asked Yugi as the shorter boy closed the door behind them.

"Sure, it'd be nice to play a game without all the high stakes attached," Yugi replied with a smile.

Lita asked, "Duel Monsters? What's that?"

"Huh?" Yugi, Joey, and Tristan all said at the same time, staring at Lita. Their disbelief was shockingly evident.

"You mean you've never heard of Duel Monsters?" Joey asked, his jaw almost falling off his face.

"Uh, yeah," Lita asked, blinking.

"I've never heard of it, either," Mina chimed in, turning around.

"Have none of you heard of Duel Monsters?" Tea asked the Scouts with slight disbelief. All of the Scouts except Amber shook their heads.

"Have you heard of this game, Daddy?" Amy asked Mr. Mizuno.

"I can't say I have," Mr. Mizuno replied uncertainly, stroking his chin.

"Hey, Amber, you're slacking here!" Tristan interjected, giving Amber a light playful punch on her shoulder. "You ought to have introduced them to the game! They're your friends, too, right?"

Amber rubbed her shoulder with a nervous laugh. "Eh, I just never got around to it. I mean..." She paused, twirling one of her curls around her finger, "Sometimes I get tired of it, y'know, and it's nice to be around friends that don't focus on it so much."

"Are you saying we're not your friends?" Joey demanded, just as Tea and Lita each grabbed him by an ear. Joey grimaced and grabbed both ears in pain.

"Of course not!" both brunette girls retorted.

"Did that hurt a lot?" Lita asked Joey, suddenly concerned.

"No, not really," Joey replied with a smile at Lita, still rubbing his ears.

"Well, you are the one that complains about some of the high stakes that come into Duel Monsters," Yugi noted thoughtfully to Amber. "That makes sense."

"High stakes?" Raye asked with a critical eye on Yugi.

Yugi shrank back under her gaze. "Uh, well, they're not really _that_ high," he said, raising his hands in protest. "I mean, there are regional and national tournaments for this game. Usually you can win money and titles and such." A sweatdrop appeared on his head.

"Oh really? That's cool!" Rini interjected. "I'd love to get money just for winning a game!"

"I'm a Dueling prodigy and the American Duel Monsters champion!" Rebecca bragged, pointing to herself. "I'm expert at this game!"

"Wow," Rini said in awe to Rebecca.

"Hey, don't count Yugi out," Tea shot at Rebecca. "After all, Yugi is the King of Games and the winner of the Battle City Tournament," she said with a smile, looking down at Yugi.

"That's true," Yugi said bashfully.

"Yug, don't downplay your accomplishments, man," Joey said, ruffling Yugi's spiked hair.

"Say, Yugi, how about you teach the girls some of the basics of Duel Monsters?" Yugi's grandpa asked, walking up to Yugi.

"Why don't you, Grandpa? You're the one that taught me and Joey," Yugi replied.

"Oh, nonsense, you're getting to be a better duelist than I am," Mr. Muto insisted. "Besides, they're your friends. Teaching them should be your honor."

"Yeah, Yugi, you should," Amber chimed in. Her smile seemed slightly strained, but Yugi didn't notice when he looked at her. Finally, Yugi nodded.

"Ok, you guys want to learn?" Yugi asked the Scouts.

"What kind of game is Duel Monsters?" Mr. Mizuno asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

"It's a card game," Yugi replied, reaching into a small rectangular container hanging from his belt. "You put together a deck like this and duel other people that have decks." He held his deck out face-down so the Scouts and Mr. Mizuno could see it.

Amy leaned over slightly to get a better look at the deck. "Hey, I've seen cards like these before!"

_Wait, that's not even possible!_ Amber thought in alarm, spinning around to face Amy. "You have?" she asked, bewildered.

"Yeah. Serena," Amy looked over at the meatball head, "do you remember that card game Melvin was playing at school a couple days ago?"

Serena stared blankly and tilted her head to the side. "Uh... what card game?" She looked down at Yugi's cards. "This card game?" she asked, pointing at the deck.

"Yes, that card game, Serena," Raye said, exasperated. All the Scouts, Amber included, got giant sweat drops of embarrassment on their heads.

"I don't remember Melvin playing Duel Monsters," Amber murmured, glancing hesitantly between Amy and Serena.

* * *

"I saw him playing it against one of our classmates," Amy insisted. "You were there, Amber, as was Serena."

_The bell rang, and Serena walked over to Amy's desk."Hey Amy, let's go outside for lunch today," Serena suggested eagerly, yanking Amy's book out of her hand._

"_Give that back, Serena! Yes, let's go, but you don't need to take my book to get my attention," Amy replied, annoyedly snatching back her book._

"_Well, with how you suck yourself into books it's hard to know," Serena muttered._

"_Sometimes that's the case, Serena," Amber piped up from behind Serena. She was wearing a short-sleeved sailor skirt and long blue pleated skirt like Amy and Serena._

"_Agh!" Serena jumped. "You startled me, Amber!" Amber just laughed at that._

"_... and now I summon Ax Raider in attack mode!" Melvin's excited voice reached their ears. Amber, Amy, and Serena all looked over at the boy with giant glasses, where he sat hunched over his desk. A blonde boy sat across from him; both boys were holding two or three cards with brown backs in their hands. Several other boys were watching them anxiously and excitedly._

"_What are they doing?" Serena asked._

"_That's most of the school chess club members," Amy answered._

_Amber simply stared at Melvin and his opponent. "That ain't chess, though," she muttered faintly in English. Her hands trembled slightly._

"_Of course not," Amy replied to Amber in Japanese. "Looks like they found a card game to play instead of chess." The three girls drifted over to Melvin's desk._

"_Now that my Trap Hole got your Ax Raider out of the way," Melvin's blonde opponent was saying, "I sacrifice my Mystic Tomato to summon Summoned Skull in attack mode." He removed a card bearing a tomato with an ugly face from in front of him and placed a card with a picture of a fearsome horned monster in its place._

"_What? Oh no!" Melvin exclaimed as the chess club members gasped. Serena and Amy looked at each other with puzzled expressions; Amber gripped the desk behind her and looked like she was about to faint._

"_Both Summoned Skull and Mystic Clown attack your Life Points directly," the boy concluded with a wry smirk._

"_Oh man, I lost," Melvin moaned, picking up his cards. His former opponent also gathered his own cards and placed them on top of his deck._

"_Let's go outside now," Amber said suddenly. Without waiting for Amy or Serena to speak, unlike what she usually did, she walked out the door into the hallway._

"_Woah, hold it," Serena interjected as she and Amy caught up with Amber in the hall. "You always love nerd stuff like that game. Now you're just walking away from it!" She waved her arms around for emphasis._

_Amber shrugged. "I'm not interested in it today. Sunshine sounds better." Again, Amy and Serena looked at each other, evidently confused, but said nothing._

* * *

"Oh, yeah," Amber murmured, staring at the ground in embarrassment. "Now I remember."

"Yeah, but it looked like a nerd thing. I mean, the chess club was playing it!" Serena exclaimed.

Now giant sweat drops appeared on Yugi's, Tea's, Rebecca's, Joey's, and Tristan's heads. Serenity piped up innocently, "Lots of people play it in Domino, nerds and non-nerds."

"I ain't a nerd, lady," Joey grumbled.

"Uh, hey, how about we just move to the lounge and Yugi can show us the basics there?" Mina suggested with a smile, pointing down the hall where the lounge was located. "There are tables and cushy seats there."

"Good idea, Mina," Raye said all too eagerly. "Better than taking up space in the lobby."

The group agreed to Mina's idea, and soon the teens were seated on red couches and plush chairs around a low table. Rini and Rebecca sat on the floor right up to the table, Yugi just opposite of them with his deck on the table. The adults were nearby, sitting together where they could converse without interrupting Yugi's lessons.

"Okay, so the basic idea of Duel Monsters is to win duels against opponents, and you do that by reducing your opponent's Life Points from four thousand to zero," Yugi began explaining to his eager audience. Amy had a notebook on her lap and was writing as Yugi spoke, but the other Scouts just listened with their ears. Amber, however, shifted between listening and staring off into space with a solemn expression on her face.

"There are other ways to win too," Joey interjected, leaning forward, "like making your opponent run out of cards or-"

"Joey, we're sticking to the very basics here," Yugi calmly stopped Joey, holding up a hand. "After they learn that, then we can explain other details."

"Oh, okay." Joey leaned back on the couch where he was sandwiched between Lita and Serenity.

"Anyways," Yugi continued, picking up his deck, "there are different kinds of cards that you can put into your deck, and you have to have a good balance of all the different types in order to win duels." He scanned through his cards and picked out three. He set them out face-up so the girls could see them. "This one is a monster card," he explained, pointing to his Celtic Guardian. "They have attack points and defense points, and you use them either to defend your life points or attack your opponent's monsters."

"What if they don't have any monsters?" Rini asked, looking at the cards laid out.

"Then your monster can attack their Life Points directly," Yugi answered.

"That sounds a lot better than simply destroying monsters," Raye commented from where she sat between Tea and Mina.

"Well, it depends. You can set your monsters in Defense mode like this," Yugi turned the Celtic Guardian sideways and flipped it face-down, "or in Attack mode." He set the Celtic Guardian face-up the way it was before. "In Attack mode, your monsters can attack, and if it attacks another monster in Attack mode, the monster with the highest attack point level wins, and your opponent loses life points."

Right at this point, Amber stood up from off the couch where she sat next to Serena. "Hey, where are you going?" Serena asked. Everyone looked up at Amber.

Amber smiled slightly. "Don't worry, I'm just going up to the room to rest a bit. I know all this stuff, so you guys can just-"

"Wait, you play Duel Monsters?" Rini asked. The other Sailor Scouts were curious, although not as shocked as Rini. The Domino teens looked between Amber and the Scouts oddly.

Amber nodded shyly. "Yeah, sometimes." Yugi looked at Amber in bug-eyed, utter shock, but she gave him a warning glare before he could say a word. "I'll grab my deck for you guys to look at when I come back down," she said to the Scouts casually, walking away.

She stopped behind Mr. Mizuno's chair. "Mr. Mizuno, can I borrow one of the keys to our room?" she asked softly.

Mr. Mizuno looked up at Amber; his eyes were the same color as Amy's. "Oh, why sure," he replied smiling, pulling the card key out of his pocket and handing it to her. "Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said quickly. She forced herself to merely walk out the door of the lounge instead of run.

* * *

The elevator doors slid shut in front of her. Sighing with relief, Amber slid against the back wall of the elevator to the floor. "That was a close call," she muttered. Yet, her hands shook faintly. _I'm keeping so many secrets from all of them... I can't take it. I hate keeping secrets from my friends. _She hugged her legs to her chest.

_But you have to,_ Sariah said soothingly, appearing next to Amber. Her chocolate brown eyes creased with concern for her host and adopted little sister. _"Y__ou've done it before, too, with Yugi, before he and the Pharaoh knew about me,"_ she added, placing a spirit hand on Amber's shoulder.

Amber shook her head. "That was different. You were asking me to keep your existence secret, and I was doing it for you, as my sister," she said mournfully. "When I'm doing it for myself..." She paused, keeping her eyes on her knees. The elevator chimed, signaling that they had arrived on the third floor. Amber pushed herself off the floor and stepped out of the elevator.

Sariah disappeared for a moment, then reappeared besides Amber as they followed the hallway to the hotel room they were staying in. _"Oh, Amber, it's so like you to do things for others, but not always for yourself,"_ Sariah said with a sigh, shaking her head.

_Yeah, that's what Amberlee and Cloe say all the time. _Slowly Amber's face drifted from one of sorrow to one of mortification. _Oh shoot!_ Amber gasped in realization- just before she ran smack into someone.

"Ow, hey!" Amber exclaimed, rubbing your nose. She looked up into a pair of almost soulless eyes set into a brown face under a turban. "Shadi!" she exclaimed, recognizing the man who had acted as a waiter back at the restaurant earlier that day.

Shadi nodded; he was now wearing his usual flowing cream-colored robes, the ankh-shaped Millennium Key evident on his chest. "Yes. The plan has changed," he said in monotone. "You alone must meet me and the others at the designated location."

"What loca- oh, that location," Amber sputtered, reading Shadi's mind. He had been thinking of the exact location so Amber would pick up on it. "But who else will be there? And what about the Pharaoh?"

"It must be you alone," Shadi stated firmly.

"Oh, alright, fine, I'll be there," Amber said impatiently, walking around Shadi. He made no move to stop her. When she reached her door, she turned her head to say something to him, only to see he had gone. _Man, it's creepy how he comes and goes like that, vanishing into the air._

_I agree,_ Sariah said from inside Amber's mind. _Who are Amberlee and Cloe, by the way?_

"Ah! Oh shoot!" Amber muttered in response, shoving the card key into the slot above the handle. She slammed the door open and shot inside, quickly shutting it behind her. "I completely forgot about them! Ooooh, I'm so DEAD! AGH!" That last exclamation was Amber tripping over her own suitcase before switching on the lights. "Oh, great..." She opened her unzipped suitcase open, then it dawned on her. "Waaait a minute... This was zipped shut when I left."

"Until I opened it," a new voice chimed in from the bed next to her. Amber stood up in order to see the two dolls dressed in matching overalls and striped T-shirts sitting there, looking at her pointedly. Well, the taller 23 inch high doll was looking at her angrily, plastic arms crossed over her cloth chest. The shorter 16 inch blonde doll gave Amber a wide, happy grin.

"AMBY!" the blonde doll exclaimed in a high-pitched female seven year old's voice. "You're back!" She jumped up onto her feet and wobbled while keeping her balance. "You didn't forget us!"

"Of course, I didn't!" Amber replied with a relieved laugh. She scooped up the little doll and hugged her bean bag body and plastic limbs. "Why would I forget you, Cloe?" she said with a cheerful tone, meeting Cloe's blue eyes.

"But you left us behind," Cloe whimpered, lower lip stuck out in a pout.

"Yeah, and you didn't even hear me trying to speak to you telepathically," the other doll, Amberlee, scolded from the bed, standing up. Her brown hair was long and curly like Amber's, and she even had brown eyes and freckles painted on her face to match Amber.

Amber blinked, holding Cloe so the little doll could grab onto her shoulder. "You were trying to contact me? I didn't even feel a hint of it!" she protested to Amberlee.

Amberlee rolled her eyes. "That's not unusual..." She then looked immediately distressed as she continued, "But this time it seemed like someone was blocking me out of your mind."

Amber chewed on her thumb joint for a moment, staring at the ground in thought. As she did this and held Cloe she sat on the bed. Cloe slid out of Amber's arm and looked up at her with her large adorable doll eyes.

Finally Amber spoke. "Oh, I think I know why!" she said, snapping her fingers. "It's probably because of Sariah," she explained to Amberlee and Cloe. "And it was entirely by accident, too."

Amberlee cocked her head. "Sariah?" Cloe tilted her head, imitating Amberlee.

"Oh, she's..." Amber trailed off nervously. She lifted her left wrist so the two dolls could see the Eye of Udjat on the bracelet she wore. "She's the spirit of the Millennium Bracelet here. Every so often she takes control of my body, and we converse a lot inside my head."

Cloe tentatively touched the golden eye on the bracelet with her tiny fingers. "How?"

Sariah appeared in her translucent form next to Amber. _"That's a long story, little one,"_ she explained gently.

"AH!" Cloe looked up shouted in fright, retreating behind Amberlee. "Amberlee, it's another Amber!" she said in a quavering voice, pointing at Sariah while peering at her over Amberlee's shoulder.

Amberlee stared long and hard at the spirit. "No, not quite, Cloe," she reassured the younger doll, not removing her gaze from Sariah. "Look at her eyes. They're different." Cloe perked up, still staring at Sariah, but this time with natural childlike curiosity instead of fear.

Sariah smiled. She said to Amber, _"I like these two already."_ She glided over from Amber's side so she was next to Amberlee and Cloe. Slowly she reached her hands down and stroked Amberlee's soft curls and Cloe's rumpled short blond hair. _"You have nothing to fear from me- I would never deal unjust harm to anyone."_ Both dolls smiled back at Sariah and relaxed.

Now relaxed herself, Amber explained, "Amberlee, Cloe, Sariah here is a five-thousand year old spirit of an ancient royal. She has remained in that bracelet to help the Pharaoh of Egypt in his endeavors."

"_And to make sure justice is dealt to those that do wrong,"_ Sariah added, raising a finger.

"Yeah, that too," Amber chuckled. "I eventually 'adopted' her," she used finger quotes on 'adopted' "as my older sister. Sariah," she began to the spirit, "Amberlee and Cloe are my guardians. They gave me the tools I needed to discover that I am a warrior named Sailor Universe. Ever since they were simply my toys when I was seven, I've considered them my younger sisters."

Sariah laughed. _"Well, now you have both older and younger sisters- something you've always wanted, last I recall you telling me."_

"Indeed, indeed!" Amber agreed with a giggle.

Amberlee was smiling, but the smile faded as she began, "Now I have one question about all of this. How did we not know about Sariah," she gestured between herself and Cloe, "and how did she not know about us?"

"And I knew nothing about you being this 'Sailor Universe'," Sariah added.

"Ugh," Amber sighed, flopping on her back. "Now this is going to take a while. I've got a lot of ground to cover, and I've got my meeting tonight with the two Egyptian folk I can't miss." She scooted herself onto the bed so she was leaning against the pillows. Amberlee and Cloe sat on her right side, Sariah stood at her left off the bed. "Now, where to begin..."

* * *

Rini: Hey, Mew, how come you didn't put in Amberlee and Cloe earlier?

MU: Well... for one, I did forget about them - hey, don't give me that look, Rini! - and two, I didn't have a good way to put them in.

Rini: Riiight...

MU: Anyways, I have two additional chapters almost done that I'll put up. Since Kaiba didn't show up in this chapter (he refused to when I asked), he'll show up briefly later. Thank you to all of you that have reviewed, favorited, and at least read this story!

Rini: Amber, Sariah, Amberlee and Cloe are MU's OCs- the rest of the characters belong to Takahashi-san, the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Takeuchi-san, the creator of Sailor Moon!

MU: Well, Mr. Mizuno could count as an OC, seeing as he was never shown in the Sailor Moon manga or anime-

Rini: Eh, whatever.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Meanwhile, back in the hotel lounge, Yugi was continuing his Duel Monsters lesson. The cards Celtic Guardian, Big Shield Gardna, Dark Paladin, and Black Luster Soldier were together in a line. Below them were the Magic cards Monster Reborn, Spell Textbook, Black Luster Ritual, and Book of Secret Arts and the Trap Cards Magical Hats, Mirror Force, and Spellbinding Circle. "Okay, so now you know the three different kinds of cards – Monster, Magic, and Trap cards – and the sub-categories for each type of card, as well as how each kind of card works." He gathered up the cards and placed them on top of his deck. "Any questions?" he asked, looking up at the Scouts.

"So basically this game is about using Magic and Trap cards to supplement your Monsters, right?" Amy asked. "From there you can work on decreasing your opponent's Life Points."

"Well, that's an important part of it," Yugi replied. "Each duelist has a different dueling style, though. Some people rely more on their monsters than on Magic or Trap cards, and I've even seen decks that focus on Magic and Trap cards with few monsters."

"Yeah, like that Odion guy I dueled back in Battle City," Joey interjected. "Most of the time he had no monsters on the field, but he kept wiping my monsters out with his face-down Trap cards."

"So it depends on your preference," Mina confirmed, tapping her cheek.

"For the most part, yes. It's advisable to have an even balance of Monsters to Magic and Traps, though," Yugi replied. "Styles like Odion's take skills like a pro."

"You're a pro, Yugi," Tea said. "And your deck is top notch!"

"I suppose," Yugi chuckled, rubbing his neck shyly.

"Don't be modest, Yugi," Tristan insisted. "You're a great duelist and you can brag a little about that." From next to him, Serenity nodded in affirmation.

Resting her arms on her knees, Raye said, "My question, though, is why it's so important. You talk as though it is. I mean, most problems can't be solved with children's card games."

Yugi and Joey looked at each other for a brief second. Tea answered for them, saying, "Some duelists are evil, and Yugi and Joey have defeated them in duels, putting a stop to their plans."

Now it was Raye's turn to look confused. "I... still don't get it."

"Joey, may I see your deck?" Amy suddenly asked.

"Eh, sure, I guess," Joey said with a shrug. He pulled his deck out of his jacket pocket and held it out towards the blue-haired intellectual. Amy gently took it from him and knelt at the table, scanning through his cards one by one. "What'cha gonna do with them?"

"I just want to see what it's like," Amy replied, her expression analytical as she kept her eyes on his cards. "There's also something I'd like to see if it would work." She slid out and set Kunai With Chain, Joey's favorite Trap card, in front of her.

From across the lounge, Seto lowered the newspaper he was reading so only his eyes were visible. He watched Yugi and his friends as they curiously observed Amy choose and set out cards from Joey's deck. _Interesting,_ Seto thought. _Of all the newbies Yugi is training there, she seems to be most interested in Duel Monsters. Not to mention she seems quite intelligent. Let's see what she does here._

After several minutes, Professor Hawkins, Mr. Muto, and Mr. Mizuno moved from their seats over to stand by the group of teenagers. Eventually Amy had several cards laid out in random directions with three cards she was focusing on.

"Wow, that's a great combo you've got there!" Yugi said.

"I don't get it- how does it work?" Lita asked, scratching her head.

"Hayabusa Knight with Legendary Sword and Kunai With Chain attached to it," Joey read the card names to Lita. He pointed to the bird-head Warrior monster. "Hayabusa Knight can attack twice in one turn, so attaching Legendary Sword and Kunai With Chain to it will increase its attack strength by 800 points, giving it a total of 1800 attack."

"That would be a perfect move for destroying an opponent's monster than attacking their Life Points directly!" Yugi exclaimed.

"Or destroying two of their monsters so a stronger monster can attack directly," Tristan added.

"Wow, that's cool!" Rini exclaimed with a wide smile. Rebecca simply nodded in awe.

"That's if you use Kunai With Chain's first effect," Amy explained with a scholarly tone of voice. She tapped the Trap card she was discussing. "If you decide to activate the second effect instead of the first one, you can change the monster you're attacking into Defense position. So, if Hayabusa Knight with Legendary Sword equipped to it attacks a monster with a lower Defense than its attack, Kunai With Chain can change the monster to Defense position before Hayabusa attacks, therefore making it easier to destroy the opposing monster."

"Holy wow, Amy, you catch on to this game quick!" Mina interrupted with wide eyes.

"Yeah, you are really super smart!" Serena added.

"Oh guys," Amy replied with a shy laugh. "Oh, another possibility with Kunai With Chain's second ability is, if you have a second monster with Hayabusa, and the opposing Monster's Defense is higher than Hayabusa's Attack, then your second monster can destroy your opponent's monster and Hayabusa can attack your opponent's Life Points directly twice."

Yugi and his friends from Domino gaped silently. "Wow, you have a knack for strategy!" Tristan complimented.

"Yeah, you thought out every detail!" Tea added, just as surprised and happy.

"That's my girl for you!" Mr. Mizuno announced with pride. "She's my smart one!" He ruffled Amy's hair with his large hand. Amy blushed and smiled shyly in response to all the praise.

Seto was rarely surprised by anything, but he was astonished by the combination Amy had come up with. _She found a killer combination in Wheeler's deck! And she's never even played Duel Monsters before!_ he thought as he stared at Amy in admiration. _She has potential to being a better duelist than Yugi! _He smiled crookedly. _I have to get her a deck and train her properly- she could find flaws in Yugi's deck and help me defeat him._

His cellphone vibrated in his pocket; he folded up his newspaper before answering the call. "Yes?" he asked softly, not wanting any of the group of teenagers to hear him. As he listened to the speaker on the other end, he walked past the Scouts and Domino teens and out of the lounge. They were too absorbed in their conversation to even notice Seto.

"Y'know, Amy, perhaps you could go to my grandpa's game shop down in Domino and build a deck of your own," Yugi suggested eagerly.

"Yeah, with your kind of mind you could be an killer duelist!" Tristan added.

"Says the one who never duels," Joey murmured wryly.

"Oh shut up, Joey," Tristan murmured back with a sweat drop on his head.

Amy shook her head slightly. "No, I wouldn't have time to duel. After school I've got night classes and I have to study in order to keep my grades up."

"I could help you with your homework, Amykins," Mr. Mizuno offered with a huge grin.

"Uh, Daddy," Amy began, already an embarrassed sweat drop on her head. "Mom told me you rarely got B's in high school, let alone A's."

Mr. Mizuno fell anime-style and hopped right back up again. "It's the thought that counts!" he replied gruffly, which earned laughter from the other two adults and the teenagers. Rini and Rebecca laughed the loudest.

As the laughter died down, Rini chimed in, "Well, I'd like to play Duel Monsters, Yugi."

"Well, then, what I told Amy goes for you, too," Yugi replied to Rini. "For all of you girls." He looked up at all the other Scouts.

"I'll help you make the best deck ever!" Rebecca told Rini. They cheered and gave each other high fives.

"I'd have to watch a couple duels before I decide," Mina said with a shrug.

"Same here," Raye and Lita replied at the same time.

"It looks a bit complicated," Serena commented, playing with her bangs.

Lita glanced over at Raye. "Raye, are you ok?" she asked the stoic raven-haired girl. "You haven't said much."

Raye looked past Lita and Joey. "Something's not right... There's this energy tugging at my senses, but I can't quite place it."

Amy perked up at this. "Is it bad?" she asked urgently.

Raye shook her head. "Not quite. Some of it is... some isn't."

Rini explained to the Domino teens, who looked confused, "Raye is a priestess at a shrine back in Tokyo and has a sixth sense about things."

"Not like she can see into the future, just that she can sense evil spirits and the like," Lita added, seeing Joey's skeptical expression.

"Anyways," Professor Hawkins interrupted, glancing at his wristwatch, "it's getting late, and you all will need some rest before we go to the archeological dig tomorrow."

"It turns out that the one we're going to is the one Mr. Mizuno here arranged for you girls to see," Mr. Muto added.

"Really?" Rini asked excitedly. Grins broke out over everyone's faces.

"That's great! We'll get to spend more time together!" Rebecca shouted, giving Rini a huge hug. "C'mon, Yugi, let's go!" She somehow managed to dive around the table and grab Yugi by the arm yet again. Yugi simply sighed and let Rebecca drag him off.

"We'll see you in the morning, then," Tea said with a smile to the Scouts.

"See ya then!" the Scouts chimed as the Domino teens moved towards the door.

Joey stood up, and Lita stood with him. "So, Lita..." He trailed off, putting his hands in his pockets. He looked down timidly for a moment before meeting Lita's eyes. "See you at tomorrow's adventure?"

Lita smiled and her cheeks pinked faintly. "Yeah," she replied softly. Then, she tilted her head up and kissed his cheek. "See you then." Her pink cheeks turned redder.

Now Joey's face was bright red, his grin one of his famous goofy ones. "Uh, well, hehe, good night!" he sputtered, racing to join his sister and friends- and smacked into the side of the door. "Oww..." he moaned, kneading his forehead. Lita giggled at Joey's antics.

"Hey, Joey, you forgot your deck!" Amy yelled, holding the stack of cards in the air.

"Uh, oh, yeah, thanks." Joey darted back, snatched his deck back from Amy, and ran out of the lounge. As soon as the Domino teens left with Prof. Hawkins and Mr. Muto, the Scouts all looked at each other and laughed long and hard. Eventually they, too, left for their rooms, chatting and giggling amongst themselves.

A cloaked man watched them leave from the shadows, tufts of white hair sticking out of his hood. _Yes, the Pharaoh's presence has masked me from their senses, _he thought to himself with an evil smile. _Now that I know where they're going, I can track them much more easily. _A circular object gave off a golden glow from underneath the black fabric. He pulled out a small glass orb from inside his cloak and held it in front of him. "Reporting," he murmured into it.

"Status?" a woman's silky voice asked.

The man smirked. "I have their destination. The plan is coming along perfectly."

* * *

Serena yawned loudly and stretched her arms. "Boy, I'm tired. Today's been packed!"

"I'll say," Lita replied, still with pink cheeks.

"That Duel Monsters game really sounds fascinating," Amy added. "And we've been able to see and learn about so much about ancient Egypt!" She put her hands together giddily.

"I think Lita was too distracted to really see all the sites," Raye said coyly. Since they left the lounge she had relaxed.

"Yeah, completely lovestruck!" Mina chimed in with a giggle, she and Raye leaning on Lita's shoulders. "That Joey boy got you good!"

"Oh, yeeeees," Serena cooed mischeviously, eyes narrowed.

Rini knocked on the door to the room she shared with the Scouts. "Amber?" she called in through the door. The door opened, Amber standing on the other side of it in her pink and white pajamas.

"Well, what can I say?" Lita asked Serena, Mina and Raye, lifting her arms in her shrug. "I haven't connected with a guy like that since my old boyfriend."

Amber laughed as she opened the door for the girls to enter the bedroom. "Yeah, that's been obvious, Lita. You two have been around each other all day!" After everyone filed in, Amber shut the door.

"But you never came back downstairs," Serena remarked sharply. "You missed out on the action!"

"What action? Last I knew, Yugi was teaching you about Duel Monsters." Amber sat on the bed with Amberlee and Cloe.

"Rini!" Cloe piped up enthusiastically, giving the pink-haired girl a hug around her arm. Rini hugged Cloe back.

Mina yanked on her white flowing nightgown. "The action of Lita kissing Joey!" she said with hearts in her eyes. "It was sooo romantic!"

"Yeah, the sparks flew everywhere!" Serena added, hearts in her eyes as well.

"Oh guys, it was just a peck on the cheek," Lita said flatly, palm on her forehead. "I didn't really kiss him."

A large sweat drop formed on Amberlee's head. "Yeah, what she said," she added with a sigh. "You teenagers."

Mina shrugged. "What do you expect, Amberlee? We're romantics!" She and the other girls began dressing in their night clothing.

"Hopeless romantics," Amber added with a laugh.

"Hey, guys, have you seen Luna or Artemis?" Serena suddenly asked, looking around the room. Diana was curled up asleep on the window sill. They all then heard a meow and scuffing noises against the door, like paws scratching at it.

"I'll grab that," Rini said, jumping up with Cloe in one arm. She opened the door just enough for Luna and Artemis to slide in.

"You took your time!" Luna spat. "We almost got ourselves thrown out!"

"Well, you were the one that suddenly left!" Serena shot back, yanking on her pajama pants and falling over.

Luna sighed. Artemis then spoke, "We didn't really find much, but we might have a new enemy on our hands."

Lita turned around. "What do you mean?" she asked. Amber jumped slightly at the white cat's words.

"There was this strange man dressed head to toe in a black cloak, here in the middle of a desert," Luna began explaining. "He was acting strangely, so we followed him for a while."

"Did he do anything suspicious?" Raye asked.

"Not while we were trailing him," Artemis said, "but we lost him after a few minutes."

"He radiated with the same sort of energy Serena caught on her Crystal from the pendant that Yugi boy is wearing," Luna added. Her eyes narrowed. "Only this man's energy was infused with darkness."

"Was there an eye drawn on his hood?" Amber asked seriously.

The cats hopped onto the bed next to Amber. Both of them simply stared at Amber for a moment. "No, there wasn't," Luna replied.

"Why do you ask?" Artemis queried.

Amber smiled with some ease. "At least I know that he wasn't a Rare Hunter."

"What's a Rare Hunter?" Rini asked tentatively.

"See, there are some people so obsessed with Duel Monsters and winning duels that they'll do anything, even steal or cheat, to obtain rare cards," Amber began, tapping her fingers on the bed. "One group of such people are the Rare Hunters, and they're among the most ruthless of them. They'll even go as far as to physically harm or maim people for cards."

"That's awful!" Serena exclaimed.

"Yeah, totally," Mina muttered.

"That's not right," Lita said angrily. She brought her hand up into a fist. "It's just a harmless card game, after all!"

At first, Raye looked as if she were about to say something, but she remained silent and contemplative. In the silence, Amy's gasp pierced their ears. "You guys, I found the exact source of the signals I've been tracking!" She sat on one of the beds, typing away ferociously at her small blue laptop.

"Where?" they all asked at the same time. Amber jumped over to stand by Amy as the rest crowded around her.

Amy's computer had an aerial view of Egypt opened up. Typing in a few commands, Amy zoomed in one one spot. "Here, in the Valley of the Kings- at the exact location my father is going to take us to tomorrow!" Everyone gasped.

"This sounds like too much of a coincidence," Lita said, eyes hard.

"It's almost as if..." Raye trailed off, eyes distant. "We're being led here, by someone."

"You sure about that?" Amber asked faintly.

"It sounds likely," Mina remarked, "so we'll have to be on our guard."

"What'll we do if Rebecca and the others are targeted by our enemy?" Rini asked, horrified. "What if we have to transform in front of them?" Her crimson eyes watered slightly in terror.

"That won't happen, Rini, I'm sure of it!" Amber said with determination, closing her hands into fists.

"How do you know?" Raye asked, her tone stinging like an animal bite.

Amber stared hard at each of the Scouts individually. _Because if anything close to that happens... I'll have to activate my Guardian powers,_ she thought with sorrow. Instead of saying that, she replied bravely, "Because we've done stuff like this in the past, and we can do it again!"

"Yeah!" everyone chorused into a group hi-five.

"I'm with you on that," Amberlee added, arms crossed over her chest.

"Yay!" Cloe cheered innocently.

Serena stretched her arms out again. "Now, let's hit the sack!"

Slowly but surely, the girls drifted to each of their own beds and fell asleep. The room was large and luxurious enough for each girl to have their own bed, except Serena and Rini who shared one. Amber shared her bed with Amberlee and Cloe, since the two dolls didn't take up much space. In a smaller room nearby, Mr. Mizuno slept peacefully, unaware of the girls' discoveries and powers.

* * *

Several floors up, Yugi and his friends were talking in the boys' room of the two rooms they had. "Those girls are all really nice, and Amy has great potential as a duelist," Yugi commented.

"I think Rini's got good potential, too!" Rebecca added, raising a finger. "I just need to get her a deck and test her skills!"

"Rini's also very kind and helpful," Serenity commented from where she sat next to the window.

"I could relate with Raye and Mina right off the bat," Tea commented happily. "It's nice having more female friends!"

Joey remarked as he leaned back on the bed. "That wicked combo Amy thought up will be great for me to use in my next duel!"

Tristan smirked, then added, "And you've had your eyes on that Lita chick all day since she whupped your butt. You like girls that can beat you, don't you?"

"Oh, hush, Tristan," Joey shot back, but his cheeks flushed at the mention of her name.

Tea laughed. "Lighten up, Joey, she's a great girl. Her personality works well with yours."

"Yeah, and she made it pretty clear what she thinks of you!" Yugi added, his smile widening.

"Eh, stop it guys! Urgh!" Joey hid his now deep red face in a pillow. Everyone laughed at this except for Serenity, who was staring out the window. When the others stopped laughing, Rebecca was unable to control her giggling.

"Uh, you ok, Rebecca?" Yugi asked, raising an eyebrow. He inched away from her.

"Hehehehe, HEE! Yeah, I-i'm fine, heeheehee..." Rebecca continued to roll on the floor as her giggling began to soften.

"Serenity, remind me to stick this girl's head in a pillow if she keeps us up all night," Tea said flatly. Serenity didn't respond. "Serenity?" Tea asked.

"Hm?" Serenity turned her gaze from the window. "Oh, sorry, I was thinking." She wrapped her arms around her knees.

"That's ok," Tea quickly reassured her.

Joey removed the pillow from his face. "What'cha doin' looking out the window, sis?"

Serenity turned her gaze skyward again. "I've always loved the moon," she answered. "Ever since I was a little girl, I would wait for it to turn full and stare at it for hours. It's always been like a close friend after our parents divorced." A small, knowing smile struck her features. "You can always look straight at it, because its light is soft, not harsh like the sun. Besides you, Joey, it's been one thing I can always count on."

Sliding off the bed, Joey walked over and stood by Serenity solemnly. "The moon's full tonight," he commented thoughtfully as he watched the moon with her. "It does look nice." A short, comfortable silence drifted over the room.

"Well, I'm turning in," Tea said, standing up and walking to the door that joined their rooms.

"Oh, I'll come with you now," Serenity said suddenly. She hopped up.

"Good night, boys," Serenity, Tea, and Rebecca said in unison to the boys.

"Good night," Joey and Yugi chimed in response.

"S'pose I'll turn in, too. 'Night Yug, 'night Tristan," Joey said, rubbing his eyes. Tristan was already snoring softly from his bed.

It was then Yugi's turn to be contemplative. He waited until Joey fell asleep, which wasn't long, knowing Joey, before talking to Yami. _Speaking of the moon, we still haven't found that moon princess Ishizu told us about,_ Yugi confided to Yami. Yami appeared next to Yugi; both of them sat on Yugi's bed.

"_**Not yet, but perhaps we are closer to her than we suppose," **_Yami replied solemnly.

"What makes you think that?"

"_**I have a sinking suspicion Amber and Sariah know more than they are letting on." **_Yami's tone and expression became darker, slightly annoyed and worried simultaneously.

"They have been acting rather odd today,"Yugi admitted warily. "First was running into her Tokyo friends that she never told us about. I mean, Domino City borders Tokyo- it's not like they're far away."

"_**That's true."**_

"And then at the restaurant- Amber had some sort of attack. That, or she was being attacked by someone. Whatever the case, she wouldn't say what happened."

"_**And I haven't talked to Sariah at all today. Either she and Amber have been talking a lot more, or she's purposefully been avoiding me."**_

"Wow, I never thought it would be possible for Sariah to avoid you at all," Yugi quipped, his shoulders quivering with laughter.

"_**Normally I would laugh with you," **_Yami said with a small smile, "_**but if Sariah finds reasons to avoid me... that worries me greatly."**_

Yugi sighed. "I know." He laid down on the bed. "You two love each other a lot, and because of that she would never keep secrets."

Yami nodded gingerly, adding, _**"At least not without reason."**_

"That's true. Oh, and Amber did suddenly leave while I was explaining Duel Monsters to the girls. Why would she do that?"

"_**She also acted like Duel Monsters isn't that big of a deal. That, also, is confounding." **_Then, something dawned on the ancient Pharaoh. _**"Yugi, we've encountered that energy twice."**_

"Huh?" Yugi sat up on his hands. "What do you mean?"

"_**On the plane, the Puzzle reacted to something the meatball head, Serena, had," **_Yami began excitedly. _**"We felt it again when we found and picked up her compact in the marketplace. And when you were trying to help Amber when she was under that attack-"**_

Yugi gasped, catching on to what Yami was saying. "Amber... has an item with a power like Serena's compact!"

"_**Exactly!" **_Yami confirmed triumphantly, slamming his hands on the bed._** "Because of that, at least one of them knows about this moon princess we need to find. That energy felt as ethereal as the moon! Yugi, get some sleep- we'll need all the energy we can get to do some sleuthing tomorrow."**_

"I agree," Yugi replied courageously. "We'll do this together!" He flopped back down on the bed. "If only we could get Amber and Sariah to work with us, like they usually do." He frowned, his voice sad.

"_**Yes... but we'll have to do what we can without them until they reveal their secrets,"**_ Yami admitted reluctantly. With those words, Yami vanished back into the Puzzle, and Yugi closed his eyes.

* * *

MU: Oh boy... this is my longest chapter so far. Got a bit carried away... Anyways, plz leave a review, positive or negative, on this story! Feedback helps me improve :D


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Late that evening, when few people dared to roam the streets of Egypt, Amber slowly opened her light brown eyes. She had drifted in and out of slumber then feigned sleep until she was certain the other Scouts were asleep. Slowly, she slid out of her bed. Her eyes constantly scanned the mostly dark room for any sign of motion. As her sock-covered feet touched the carpet, her mind skimmed over the minds of the Scouts, making sure they all were truly asleep. Rini was fidgeting in her sleep, experiencing a nightmare, so Amber touched her mind gently to calm her. Then, Amber quick removed her shirt and pajama bottoms, revealing the jeans and green babydoll shirt she'd worn underneath them. She stepped into her worn sneakers and grabbed a room key before quietly sliding out of the room.

Gently, slowly, Amber pulled the door shut so it wouldn't click. _I'm sorry, guys, _she thought sadly. _But I have to do this alone._ Amber walked down the hallway to the elevator. _{Well, I'm not truly alone, am I?}_ she thought to Sariah.

"_Nope, you aren't,"_ Sariah replied, appearing beside her host. _"But we'd better hurry. We don't want to keep Shadi waiting long."_

_Agreed,_ Amber replied, stepping through the open elevator doors. The doors slid closed behind her. She took the elevator down to the lobby; by then Sariah was back inside the Bracelet on Amber's left wrist.

Up on the sixth floor, Yami materialized beside the sleeping form of Yugi. "_**Yugi," **_he said urgently, shaking Yugi's shoulder. _**"Yugi. Yugi! YUGI!"**_

"Ack!" Yugi bolted upright. "Geez, Pharaoh, can't it wait?" he mumbled sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"_**No, it can't,"**_ Yami insisted. _**"Sariah's gone."**_

"What?" Yugi was still out of it.

Yami sighed. _**"I can't reach her! Amber's not asleep, so I can't contact Sariah!"**_ Finally, Yugi was awake enough to understand what Yami was saying, and he jumped out of bed.

Meanwhile, in the Scouts' room, Rini had woken up to use the bathroom and was slugging back to her bed. From her nightstand, the ornamental item Rini carried with her sparkled, and a small Pegasus appeared in the orb of it. "Having a hard time sleeping, my lady?" Pegasus asked, his melodious voice concerned.

"Mm hm," Rini replied, sitting on the bed. She rubbed her eye as she said, "I'm worried about Amber, and I have a bad feeling about what's going to happen." She swung her feet back and forth. "All my dreams have this weird eye in them, like the one on Yugi's puzzle. Yugi and Amber are in them, too, except... It's not really them. It's as if someone else is controlling them."

Pegasus sighed softly. "I am sorry you are having nightmares. I promise I'll keep them away. Go back to sleep, my lady."

Rini smiled. "Thank you, Pegasus. You're very sweet." She slipped back under her blanket and turned onto her other side. Her eyes started to close- but then she sat up with a cry.

The bathroom door was wide open, shining light onto Amber's bed. Rini had happened to look at the bed- and was instantly awake when she saw Amberlee and Cloe there without Amber. "Oh no! Where'd she go?" she whispered, feeling in the dark for her clothes. "Pegasus, I have to go find her!"

By then, Amber was exiting the hotel through the automatic doors. She felt in her pocket, making sure she had her compact with her. The Millennium Bracelet glowed when it touched the compact.

_You'd better keep the two apart,_ Sariah cautioned from in Amber's mind. _It's a surefire way to alert enemies lurking in the shadows._

_Yeah, I will, don't worry,_ Amber reassured her, keeping her face even as she walked down the lamplit street. Her gait was a casual walk, although she truly wished to run or even teleport to the meeting location.

Back at the hotel, Yugi ran out of the elevator. His blue coat flew out behind him as he ran out the front door. He didn't see Rini as the pink-haired girl ran down the stairs and out the door behind him. She tripped over a pebble and colliding straight into Yugi. Both of them yelled and smashed into the ground.

"Agh! I'm so sorry!" she apologized, immediately getting off the spike-haired boy she had been on top of.

"Oh, it's ok," he replied, slowly standing. "It happens all the ti-" He turned. "Rini!"

"Yugi!" Both of them were pointing at each other.

"What are you doing?" Rini asked, arms crossed over her chest.

Yugi scratched the back of his head. "Well, I'm trying to follow Amber."

"Me, too," Rini said, slightly surprised. "Let's both find her!"

"Yeah," Yugi replied with a nod. Both of then looked up and down the street by the hotel. "Where could she have gone, though?"

"Oh! Down that way!" Rini pointed at a distant retreating figure.

"That's her!" Yugi affirmed.

_**That red hair is unmistakeable! **_Yami said to Yugi.

"C'mon!" Rini waved for Yugi to follow; both adrenaline-pumped child and teenager jogged alongside each other.

After a few moments of relative quiet, Sariah asked Amber, _Are you scanning the area?_

_{No,}_ Amber suddenly realized. {_Why?}_

_I think someone's following us._

Amber turned, sensing the two familiar minds. _{Oh no... Yugi, Rini... Sorry, but I have to do this.}_ She tapped their minds softly, then continued walking away from them towards her destination. _{It'll buy me some time.}_ She chewed on her thumb joint anxiously.

Rini stopped running suddenly. "Hey, what are we doing again?" she asked, looking around.

Yugi halted next to her. "I don't remember," he replied, tapping his chin. Both of them stood there for several seconds, uncertain of why they were outside at that time of night.

_**Yugi!**_ Yami shouted in exasperation to Yugi, appearing beside him, although Rini couldn't see the spirit. _**"We're supposed to be following Amber, remember?"**_

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Yugi mumbled. Rini glanced at the boy. "We were following Amber but somehow forgot," he said to her.

"Ooohh," Rini said, nodding her head slowly. "But how did we forget that?"

"Amber must have seen us and made us temporarily forget with her telepathy."

"What? Amber never does that to her friends!" Rini's fists tightened. "Why?" Tears filled her eyes. Her head fell.

Yugi jumped, startled by Rini's mood swing. "I don't know. We'll find out when we catch up with her, promise." He reached out and squeezed her shoulder in reassurance. "Please, don't cry," he pleaded softly. One thing Yugi absolutely hated was seeing a girl cry.

Rini looked up at him. "Mm hm, I won't," she said shakily, wiping the tears from her eyes." _He's just as kind as my dear friend Pegasus,_ she thought tenderly, giving Yugi a faint smile. "Now, let's find Amber."

Yugi nodded. He looked where Amber had been- only to see that she was gone. "She must have turned down a street," he muttered. He began walking, Rini following right behind him as she rubbed her eye again. Both of them had the urge to run again, but somehow they both understood that running would simply alert their quarry to where they were.

As they walked side by side, light glinted off the pyramid Yugi wore. Rini's attention was drawn to the peculiar object. "What is that hanging from your neck?" she asked Yugi.

Yugi looked down. "Oh, this is the Millennium Puzzle," he replied, holding it in both hands. "It's a five thousand year old artifact from this place, ancient Egypt I mean. It took me about eight years to put it together- it was tricky."

"Oh wow," Rini said admirably. "And I thought you were just a Duel Monsters expert."

Yugi chuckled. "People are often layered, Rini. Anyways, I hope to find out more of the Puzzle's secrets while we're here."

Whispers from down a dark alley reached their ears. They stopped, inching closer to the white wall of a building. Both of them strained to hear, but the conversation they were hearing wasn't coherent at the distance they were at.

"Do you hear what they're saying?" Rini whispered.

Yugi shook his head. "Not really. Let's get closer," he whispered back. Their cautious steps took them around the side of the building. Yugi thrust his arm out, stopping Rini before either of them continued to the back of the building. "I can hear them," Yugi muttered. "Four of them, including Amber." He poked his head around the corner of the building; Rini peered around his arm. There were indeed four shadowy figures: Amber, two figures dressed in Egyptian robes, and a woman holding a staff in one hand.

"... do not worry, soon the time will arrive," one of the figures was saying.

Rini gasped. "That's Sailor Pluto!" she whispered, recognizing the voice instantly.

"Sailor who?" Yugi whispered, looking at Rini. Another voice began speaking. "Hey, that's Ishizu!" he said in astonishment, lifting his head up again.

"Who's Ishizu?" Rini asked.

Amber stiffened and turned around. "I sense others near," she told her companions in a hushed tone.

The two women smiled knowingly. "Rini," the woman bearing the staff called out.

"Yugi," the other woman said gently.

"You can come out now," they said in unison. Sheepishly the two tag alongs crept out from their nook and slowly approached Amber.

"I can honestly say I'm not surprised to see you here, Small Lady," the staff-bearing woman, Sailor Pluto, said with a laugh. Her long emerald green hair hung close to her knees, and she wore tall black boots, long white gloves, and a mostly black uniform that resembled a Japanese school girl's uniform. Yugi looked up at her curiously; she towered over him, the way most adults did.

"Yeah, of course," Rini replied to Sailor Pluto, scuffing her shoes together. She kept her eyes on her toes.

"Small Lady?" Yugi glanced at the pink-haired child.

"Eh, it's a long story," Rini muttered bashfully to the trio-color haired boy.

"I did not think a young lady of your reputation would be so quiet," Ishizu commented wryly. She had discarded her business attire and wore a flowing cream-colored dress that exposed her shoulders. She had long black hair and dark Egyptian skin and eyes.

Rini perked up. "Huh? Whaddya mean?" Her gaze at the Egyptian woman was a quizzical one.

"What are you doing here, Ishizu?" Yugi asked. "And you, Shadi?" he asked the third figure almost hidden entirely in shadow.

"Shadi?" Rini asked as the turban-wearing man stepped out where he could be better seen. "Hey, you're the monkey man!" she declared, pointing at him.

"Yes," he replied flatly. "It was necessary for me to disguise myself in order to find Amber, so she may alert you to what lies ahead."

"Warn us of what?" Yugi asked, fingering the Puzzle's chain anxiously.

"That is for Amber to know, and to reveal when the time is right," Sailor Pluto replied.

Ishizu added. "I saw what is to come in a vision I had while I still had the Millennium Necklace. Thanks to Sailor Pluto," she gestured to the other woman, "I was able to find you and the others." She paused, then added, "Most of what will occur is beyond any of our comprehension, anyways."

Amber stared at the dirt in shame, her fingers toying with the Bracelet. _Sailor Pluto shouldn't know about the Millennium Items. Ishizu shouldn't know there was once a Moon Kingdom. The two shouldn't even have been able to make contact! I'm such a horrible Guardian- look at the disaster I'm creating! Who knows how it'll get worse from here unless-_

"Amber!" Rini shouted. The auburn-haired girl flinched at the future Princess's tone. She dared to meet Rini's eyes. "Why are you keeping secrets? You're acting like you can't trust us! WHY?" Rini demanded.

"Rini, I do trust you," Amber stated firmly, as if she were scolding the younger girl. "Now isn't the time. I promise, when the time is right you'll know everything."

"When will that be?" Rini demanded, stomping the ground. "I-I hate that you're acting like a sneak, an enemy! You haven't been telling anyone what's going on! Whatever's bugging you is bottled up inside you, and... You're hiding, and... and..." Gradually, Rini began to cry openly. "You're not acting like a real friend," she finished between sobs. She covered her face in her hands.

To keep from bursting into emotion as well, Yugi bit his lip. "Honestly, Amber, I don't blame Rini for how she reacted," he said calmly, although with some hurt in his voice. "I've been really worried, too."

Amber looked at both of her friends then knelt in front of the crying girl. "Rini..." She wrapped her arms around Rini and pulled her close. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I want to tell you, I do. I just can't yet. Please, trust me on this." Her own few tears trickled into Rini's ponytail. Rini didn't answer, her body trembling against Amber. _Oh, Master... what do I do now? What would you do right now?_ Amber pleaded in her mind.

To Yugi's surprise, it was Shadi that also crouched beside Rini and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Small Lady," he said. Rini looked up at him in alarm, tear trails on her cheeks. Amber turned her head to watch the stoic Shadi. "You are brave, young one. Continue to be strong. It is your imperative to be- for yourself and the Princess." Although his tone and face remained as impassive as ever, it was plain that he meant some comfort with his words.

"Imperative?" Rini asked in a small voice.

"It means duty," Amber informed Rini softly.

It then clicked in Yugi's mind that Shadi had mentioned a princess. "Wait, have we already found the Moon Princess?" he asked, looking at Shadi, Ishizu, and Sailor Pluto.

"Yes," Sailor Pluto replied. "However, out here in the open we are not at liberty to say."

"The wrong ears could happen upon that key information," Ishizu added.

"Soon, you will discover who she is," Shadi concluded, standing upright again.

Rini harrumphed. "You're all being so vague, it's annoying," she muttered.

Amber laughed silently, mostly with her shoulders. "I agree, but how about we go back to the hotel and get some rest, now? We've got a long day tomorrow, with the archeological dig and all." She flicked Rini's ponytails with her hands playfully as she stood.

Yugi yawned. "Despite all the excitement, I'm with you on that."

"You guys want me to teleport us back, or should we walk?" Amber asked.

"We wouldn't want anyone to know we were out here," Rini said, tapping her chin.

"Alright, teleport it is," Amber concluded. She gently pulled Yugi forward so each of her friends were standing to each side of her. Facing Shadi, Ishizu, and Sailor Pluto, she nodded and told them, "Thank you."

"We'll be right behind you when the time comes," Ishizu promised. "Until then, do not tell a soul."

"You have no need to fear," Sailor Pluto said with determination. After those words were said, Amber closed her eyes and placed her hands on Yugi's and Rini's shoulders. All three vanished in an instant.

Sailor Pluto sighed. "They are all so young, too young for such responsibilities."

"They have faced other challenges like this before," Ishizu consoled her like-minded comrade. "Together they will be a formidable team." Both of them turned to Shadi, but he was not there, having vanished as he usually did.

Amber, Rini, and Yugi reappeared next to Amber's bed in the Scouts' room. Opening her eyes, Amber whispered to Yugi, "You'd better get back up to the sixth floor now."

Yugi's face reddened as he faintly saw all the sleeping girls. "Oh, right. G'night," he whispered back hurriedly, quickly stepping to the door. Rini and Amber said goodnight to Yugi just before he closed the door.

Outside, a girl in scanty circus-style clothing watched Yugi walk to the elevator. Her green hair was coiled up and leaning over her head like a rhino's horn. She held a green ball twice the size of her fist in her hand. Smiling coyly, she muttered, "This is going to be easier than we thought."

* * *

MU: Brownie points to anyone that can name the green-haired character! (besides Sailor Pluto...) I hope you could keep up with this fast-paced chapter!

Yugi: [panting] I'll say! You wore me out with all that running!

Rini: Yeah! [panting] Me too!

MU: And that won't be the end of the action, either! :D [Rini and Yugi groan] Oh, c'mon, you'll like it! Anyways, pleaze R&R, dear readers, and thanks for following this story! Coming up- There's more to the archeological site than anyone, even Amber, can possibly guess... [dun dun DUUUUUUN!]


	11. Chapter 10

At 7 o'clock am, Amber was fully awake and decided to go for a swim. She walked out to the large hotel indoor pool wearing a mint green one-piece swimsuit with an attached skirt. Since it was early morning, the only sound that could be heard were the faint echos of her own bare footsteps. Flinging the white towel in her hand onto a nearby deck chair, she quickly stepped over to the deep end of the pool and jumped in with a splash. Instead of coming up to surface right away, she swam a few strokes underwater, eyes closed, her auburn hair flowing around and behind her with the water current. To her, the water was soothing and made her feel as if she was floating away from all her worries like a feather. Amber's head broke through the mostly still surface of the pool, and she turned onto her back to float. The water wrapped around her entire body except her face like a blanket. Her thoughts became as blank as the water. The only sounds she could hear was the whirring of water in and around her ears. She closed her eyes again, allowing herself to sink into bliss. Tranquility in this way was a wonderful way, in Amber's mind, for her to begin her day. Water swooshed as someone entered the pool, but Amber didn't give the sound a second thought.

Then, something poked her side. Amber squeaked and sat up in the water. She turned to face the guilty party, namely her short spike-haired friend.

"Yugi!" she said with a giggle. "Jeepers!" She splashed his face.

Yugi laughed. "I was going to surprise you by covering your eyes, but they were already closed." He wiped water droplets off his forehead.

Amber smirked wryly. "Yugi-kun, you fail at surprises," she informed him.

"Hey!" Yugi yelped, placing a hand over his heart. "I am hurt!" Yet, he was smiling the entire time- the two teased like this quite often. Amber and Yugi laughed, and Amber started splashing Yugi again. Yugi splashed back, and the two escalated into a large water fight. Finally, water was almost pouring out of Yugi's magenta-tipped hair when Yugi called, "Truce?"

"Ok, fine, truce," Amber replied with a fake pout. She drifted away from Yugi a bit, although while her feet touched the bottom of the pool Yugi had to tread water to keep his head above it. Like most people, she was taller than him, with or without his hair. As the playful moment faded, the unease from the previous night overshadowed them again. Amber bit her thumb joint; Yugi concentrated on keeping himself afloat.

"So," Yugi began to break the silence. "Is today the day?" His thought that Amber picked up on was, _Is today the day we find out everything?_

Amber nodded. "Today's the day, I'm pretty sure."

Someone jumped in behind her, splashing her back. She and Yugi both looked over to see Rini smiling widely behind them.

"So today's the day?" Rini asked excitedly as water dripped from her bunny ear-shaped hair rolls.

Amber and Yugi nodded. "Today's the day," they both affirmed.

"YAY!" Rini jumped up in the water, coming down with a splash. This initiated a three-way water fight. Amber even picked Rini up and tossed her back into the water once.

* * *

After an hour, the three hoisted themselves out of the pool, dried off, and rode the elevator back to their rooms to dress into clothing appropriate for the desert heat. About an hour after that, both groups of teenagers met up outside of the hotel and took jeeps to the dig site.

"Here we are!" Mr. Mizuno called back to the teenagers he drove in one of the jeeps. He had barely parked before Amy, Raye, Tea and Mina stepped out of the jeep. Mr. Muto and Professor Hawkins parked the other jeeps in front of Mr. Mizuno's. Joey hopped out of a jeep and helped Lita down with her hand on top of his, like a true gentleman.

"Yippee! We're here!" Rebecca and Rini chorused together, hopping out of another jeep with Professor Hawkins. They stood next to Yugi, Tea, and Amber as the five looked over the site. The site was a large hole several miles in diameter with archeologists scattered throughout it, working steadily under the growing sunlight.

_{This place is fantastic,}_ Amberlee's voice chimed in Amber's mind. She had used her powers to shrink herself to a few inches tall and now poked her head out of Amber's pocket.

_{It's so BIG!}_ Cloe added, peeking out of Amber's other pocket, shrunk just like Amberlee.

_{I agree,}_ Amber said to both of them with a satisfied smile.

The rest of the Scouts and the Domino group stood by Yugi. "Wow, this is massive!" Amy said in awe.

"From what I've read, this site was discovered a couple months ago," Mr. Mizuno told her, forcing a wide-rimmed hat over his head. "There's an ancient burial site here, and I was hired to take pictures of the findings here." He held a black Canon camera with a wide zoom lens in both hands.

"Wow, so someone's buried here?" Tea asked excitedly.

"I thought you didn't like mummies, Tea," Yugi asked her, lifting an eyebrow.

"I don't. Ew!" Serena shrieked, shaking her head vigorously.

Tea shrugged. "As long as I don't see the mummy itself, I'm fine."

"We almost had to stop work here because of lack of finances," Professor Hawkins was telling Rebecca, Rini, and Amber. "Fortunately, we received funds from Kaiba Corporations."

"Hold up, did you say KAIBA Corp?" Tristan asked when he overheard this.

"That means..." Joey turned his head, searching with his eyes. The group moved down a trail into the heart of the site. "Hey, there's Kaiba!" he exclaimed to the others. He pointed at the brown-haired young man talking to a friendly-faced archeologist. A boy with messy black hair stood next to the young man, rocking back and forth on his feet in boredom.

"What's Kaiba doing funding an archeological dig?" Yugi wondered aloud.

"Yeah, his company is a game company," Tea commented, just as confused.

"Why does that matter?" Serena asked.

Rini stepped to the side of the group in order to actually see the Kaiba brothers. "Hey, they were watching you and Joey spar, Lita," she told Lita.

"They were?" Lita asked.

Joey looked horribly distraught. "Say what? You serious?"

Kaiba heard Joey shouting and looked over from his discussion at the blonde boy. "What are you doing here, Wheeler?" he demanded.

"That's what I want to know, Kaiba," Joey shot back, hand clenched into a fist.

Lita, Amy and Amber all stepped closer to Joey. "Joey, this isn't the time," Amber muttered.

"If you get him mad, these archeologists might lose funding!" Amy reminded him. She glared at Kaiba, which was a surprise to Amber and Lita since Amy rarely got mad.

"Smart girl," Kaiba said with a smirk.

"You twit!" Serena yelled at him.

"Are you two rivals or something?" Lita asked, gesturing between Kaiba and Joey.

Kaiba chuckled. "You could say that, even though my rivalry is more with Yugi than that second-rate duelist – and from what I saw yesterday, a second-rate fighter."

"Second-rate? I'll show you second-rate, you jerk!" Joey started to lunge for Kaiba, but Amber and Lita grabbed Joey and held him back. Amy stepped back as Raye and Mina both became angry.

"Joey, calm down!" Yugi implored Joey, seeing as the blonde was in his state of Brooklyn rage.

Amidst all of this, Mokuba spotted the pink-haired girl he had seen earlier and snuck around the group until he was in front of her. "Uh... hi," he greeted her shyly, hands clasped behind his back.

She smiled. "Hi!" she said with a small friendly wave.

That caused Mokuba to blush faintly. "M-my name's Mokuba. What's yours?"

"I'm Rini," she replied with a nod. "Nice to meet you!" She held out her hand, and tentatively he shook it. "So... is he your brother?" Rini pointed at Kaiba, who had just spouted off another rude remark about Joey.

"Yeah, but don't mind Seto's mood. He's never gotten along with Yugi or his friends much," Mokuba explained, easing up to her company. He smiled and asked, "Want me to show you something cool these guys just found?"

Nodding, Rini said, "Sure!" Mokuba turned and ran, waving for Rini to follow. Happily both children left, and when Rebecca noticed Rini running off she followed her new friend.

"Why don't you just leave him alone?" Raye asked Kaiba, staring at him hard.

"Yeah, you're just being a bully!" Lita accused, pointing at him.

Kaiba grunted. "Perhaps," was all he said.

"Uh, Mr. Kaiba, sir," Mr. Mizuno interjected with a forced smile. "Perhaps you will show me what it is I need to photograph? Or is there someone I need to talk with about that?"

Kaiba glanced at Mr. Mizuno's camera. "Oh, so you are Mr. Yasuo Mizuno?"

"Yes, I am," Mr. Mizuno replied, his smile more genuine.

Kaiba smiled a very wide smile, much to the astonishment of the Domino teens. "I'm a huge fan of your work, sir!Your paintings, your photography, everything! Especially your dragon collection!" he exclaimed, clapping Mr. Mizuno's hand in an enthusiastic handshake. "I'm so glad you're here to photograph the findings! Come with me, Professor Andrews will know what needs to be captured with your stellar photography skills!"

"Well," Mr. Mizuno laughed, "It's always a pleasure to meet a fan of my art."

"Oh, and after this, I have a commission I'd like you to do for me, Mr. Mizuno," Kaiba added. The still grinning company head led Mr. Mizuno over to where a bearded man was overseeing some interns in the dig.

Amber stared after Kaiba, her eyes growing wider by the second. _I think a hundred puppies died with Kaiba's smile right there._

_I think a thousand,_ Sariah chimed.

_{Yeah, me too. Poor puppies...} _Amberlee agreed. Amber shook her head.

"What's up with that Kaiba guy?" Mina whispered to Tea, pointing at the strangely happy Kaiba.

Tea sighed. "He and Joey have never gotten along, and he's desperate to beat Yugi in Duel Monsters."

"That game is why Kaiba hates Yugi?" Amy asked, shocked.

"That's shallow!" Raye crossed her arms as she glared at Kaiba. "It's just a game! Why is it so important, anyways?"

"Um..." Amber held up a finger, then dropped it. _Nevermind, it'd be too hard to explain to her just yet._

"You're all allowed to look around and observe whatever you'd like," Professor Hawkins explained to the group. "Mr. Moto and I, as well as the archeologists working, will be more than happy to answer any questions you have about the artifacts or ancient Egypt."

"Serena?" a male voice said from behind them. They all turned to see a college-age young man with dark eyes and a wide-brimmed hat over his black hair. "What are you doing here?" he asked the meatball head.

Serena squealed and dived at him. "Darien!" she shouted, hugging him as tight as she could. "What are YOU doing here?" Her head pressed against his chest.

Darien laughed and hugged her in return. "Don't you remember, Serena? I'm here on an internship for a month. I told you before I left."

"Uh..." Serena looked up at him dumbly. "I... don't remember that."

"Of course you don't," Raye muttered.

Amber chuckled. "Guys, this is Serena's boyfriend Darien Shields," she explained to the Domino teens.

"Nice to meet you, Darien," Yugi said to him. Amber quickly introduced the Domino teens to Darien, adding, "And there's Rebecca around somewhere..."

"Darien!" Rini noticed Darien and managed to reach her short arms around his waist. "You're here!"

"Of course I am, Rini!" Darien laughed. "Let me show you some cool Egyptian artifacts now!"

"Awesome!" Rebecca and Mokuba said in unison behind Rini.

From there, the group scattered. Tristan, Serenity, and Mina began looking at a table full of smaller items found. Lita and Joey split their time between flirting and watching some of the archeologists dig. Amy stayed with her father, watching him photograph, and also asked Mr. Moto and Professor Hawkins lots of questions. Rini, Rebecca, and Mokuba ran around between each group of archeologists, watching each for a few seconds before leaving for another group. Tea and Raye asked an intern archeologist about what he was uncovering. Serena remained by Darien's side as he dug out some ancient jewelry. Yugi and Amber were most interested in an object the archeologists were having a hard time figuring out.

"What is it?" Yugi asked.

"We're not sure," one of those working on the object replied. "Whatever it is, it's large, and it's stuck where it's at." He gestured towards what looked like a large stone beam with hieroglyphics carved into it. Amber knelt down and brushed some loose dirt off the symbol of a circle with wings spread out in the beam's center.

The symbol she touched glowed. Amber froze – just as the ground began shaking like a shivering man.

People screamed; Yugi and the archeologists all backed away from the object. Joey grabbed Lita's arm to support her; Tristan did the same for Serenity. Mokuba stiffened protectively by Rini. Amber, however, was transfixed by the glowing circle. The Millennium Bracelet began to shine just as brightly as the circle in the beam.

_Amber! Get away from there!_ Sariah shouted at her. Amber jolted out of her stone-like state and stood up. She began walking backwards. The ground trembled and rocked even harder, knocking her back onto her hands and knees.

The earth beneath her slanted, pouring into an opening below the beam. Amber spun on the dirt, yelling as she was carried into the darkness.

"AMBER!" the Scouts shouted. The Domino teens echoed their cry. It was then the ground settled itself, ending its tantrum quake.

Yugi, Joey and Lita were the first to dart to the newly discovered entrance. Everyone clustered around the set of stairs revealed by the disappearing dirt. "Amber! You alright down there?" Yugi yelled.

Silence fell over the group. A faint sound came from deep within the dark opening. It grew louder and louder; the sound was a frightened female scream. Amber ran out, still screaming, up the steps and hid behind Joey. She hid her face in his back. "T-that was scary," she whispered, gripping his T-shirt.

"Oh, is someone afraid of the dark?" Kaiba taunted.

"Shut up, Seto," Amber sneered at him, her face red.

"Yeah, everybody's got their weaknesses, man," Joey snapped at Kaiba.

"Don't bother with him, Joey," Lita muttered to Joey, glaring at Kaiba. "He's not worth your time."

"Oh snap! You just got burned!" Mina chimed. Kaiba growled at her with a glare.

"Hey, you took my line, Mina!" Amber retorted. She released her hold on Joey's shirt.

"Uh, shouldn't we be worrying more about what's down there?" Amy offered tentatively. She gestured down into the stairway; a few archeologists were descending into the darkness with lamps and flashlights.

Professor Hawkins shouted up to them from the bottom of the stairs, "You're all free to come along! This is a most fascinating find!"

"So that beam was the top of a doorway," Yugi murmured, staring long and hard at the circle with wings Amber had touched.

_I sense some sort of power being restrained down there, _Raye thought.

"This looks exciting!" Rebecca piped up, bouncing up and down. "Rini, Mokuba, let's go!"

"Yeah!" the two other kids yelled. They raced down the stairs laughing. "Come on, Seto!" Mokuba shouted up at Kaiba.

"I've got to take pictures of what's down there," Mr. Mizuno said excitedly. Gripping his camera tightly, he set off down the stairs, Amy following him. Kaiba, Yugi, the gang, and the Scouts all trickled down the steps.

_{That Kaiba's a big meanie!}_ Cloe told Amber angrily.

_{Not to mention heartless and egotistical,}_ Amberlee added.

_{Agreed, but we have more important things to worry about than him,}_ Amber sent to them, absorbing her surroundings. _{Like what's in here... and how to separate the dimensions... I need a little time to think, ok, guys?}_ She felt Amberlee's and Cloe's presences leave her mind. Now only her own thoughts and senses were there as the group left the harsh sunlight above and entered the shadows.

* * *

(Author comments below - feel free to ignore them if they annoy you)

Rini: Hey Mew, why are your chapters so long?

Yugi: Yeah, that last one was a LOT to read!

MU: Sorry! I get caught up in my ideas! Anyways, this story is halfway through now! I plan on this story being twenty chapters at most, fifteen at minimum. Most likely it'll be twenty, though, and I'll put up the rest of the chapters by August 2010. Also, credit goes to LittleKuriboh for the YGOTAS moments! (You can probably spot them in this chapter) :D Please leave a review-

Joey: Or I'll kick ya butt!

MU: Joey! Where did you- oh nevermind... Remember, he's kidding. It's all up to you if you want to review or not.


	12. Chapter 11

"Wow, I must say this is astonishing!" Professor Hawkins said aloud. He turned around slowly to see all the pictures and writing on the walls in the hall they were in.

"Indeed," Mr. Moto replied. "How often is it that a new tomb is discovered out here?"

"You sure this is a tomb, Grandpa?" Yugi asked.

Mr. Moto chuckled. "Well, we can't be sure yet, but it's possible."

"If it isn't a tomb," Professor Hawkins added, his fingers brushing some of the characters on the wall, "then it's probably a shrine or an ancient treasure storehouse. There are several possibilities, although I'm hoping it's the true entrance to the tomb."

Yugi froze for a moment. "Hey, Joey, could you grab that green bag I brought with me? I left in in the jeep."

"Eh? Oh, sure!" Joey gave Yugi a thumbs-up and dashed back outside.

"True entrance?" Raye asked Professor Hawkins.

"Yes, we've found a few halls like this one," Professor Hawkins began explaining, pointing at the walls and doorway with his hands. "However, most of them have led to dead ends or storage rooms."

As Mr. Mizuno focused his camera on a figure drawing, Amy stood by him and asked, "Won't the lighting be poor down here, Father?"

"It is before I begin using my top-quality equipment," Mr. Mizuno said with a laugh. He twisted his camera lens to lengthen it.

"Ah, so you are Mr. Mizuno's daughter," Kaiba said to Amy, his tone pleasant. "Are you an artist like your father?"

Amy shook her head. "No, I'm actually studying to be a doctor, like my mother." _His smile is rather nice,_ she thought with interest. _He might be likeable if he did not treat my friends so poorly._

"Geez, Kaiba, why can't you be that nice to the rest of us?" Tristan barked.

"Yeah, it's not like we're mean to you," Serenity muttered, worry in her eyes.

"I don't have time for losers like you," Kaiba retorted, turning his head and leering at Tristan.

Amy's eyes narrowed. "Mr. Kaiba, if you are so painstakingly selective who you are cordial to, then you are far less admirable than those you have inappropriately labeled as 'losers'!"

Kaiba gasped; Amy turned away and began ignoring the speechless young man. Panting, Joey came back, carrying a green bag that was longer than it was wide. "Oh, man, I don't know what she said, but I get the feeling you just got burned!" Joey interjected with a cocky grin.

"Shut up, Wheeler," was all Kaiba could manage with his wounded pride.

Joey chuckled. "Here you go, Yugi!" he said cheerfully, holding out the bag to Yugi.

"Thanks!" Yugi took it from Joey and slung its strap over one shoulder.

Amber glanced at the bag and scanned Yugi's mind. _So he did bring the Items he has,_ she thought with interest. _Good thing he did._ She let her attention wander back to scanning Egyptian characters.

"Wow, look at this battle scene!" Mokuba exclaimed, pointing at a drawing of figures wielding swords and other weapons. "This is so awesome!"

"It's really detailed," Rebecca commented, tapping her chin in a scholarly motion. "At least it isn't gory." She stuck her tongue out at the thought.

"It is cool," Rini told Mokuba, who grinned.

"Yeah, with all those ancient guys kicking some serious butt!" Joey offered. "You think so, Lita?"

Lita nodded. "I do! It rocks!" She and Joey hi-fived. "Too bad they never knew any karate!"

Mina walked past Serena and Darien, gazing intently at the walls and its images. She yelped as her foot snagged on someone's ankle and she fell – almost. Firm hands grabbed her waist and helped steady her. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry!" a male British voice apologized. "I didn't see you there!"

With a laugh, Mina steadied herself and said casually, "It's alright – oh." She stared at the young man with white hair, her attention snared by his deep brown eyes. "I'm... fine."

The young man smiled and nodded. "Good to hear!"

Mina's heart melted at the sight of his smile, and she blushed as she turned away from him. _Wow, he's gorgeous! I have to get his number later!_

He crouched, seemingly intent on a set of characters. When Mina joined Tea and Raye, an evil grin appeared on the young man's face. A circular pendant appeared on his shirt and glowed faintly.

Raye started, turning around. "Something's not right here," she murmured, hands twitching.

"What's wrong, Raye?" Mina asked. Tea also looked at Raye, confused.

"I sense an evil presence near," Raye replied darkly, staring at both girls intensely.

"You sure about that?" Yugi asked, joining Tea.

Raye nodded. "I'm a Shinto priestess and have been trained in the ways of spirits and demons. We'd best be on our guard." She eyed the Puzzle on Yugi's neck critically, then ripped her attention from it.

_I wonder if Raye can sense the Pharaoh in the Puzzle,_ Amber mused, her back towards Raye.

_I think that Priestess girl has sensed both me and the Pharaoh,_ Sariah said to Amber.

_{But why has she not hinted at it?}_ Amber asked. _{Oh, this is a fascinating ceremony picture!}_

_Amber, that was an ADD moment, and in response to your question, I don't know_, Sariah replied. Amber could sense the spirit keeping an eye on Raye.

"Yugi, do you know what these characters are?" Tea asked, pointing at markings on the opposite wall.

Yugi stepped closer to Tea and squinted at the markings. "No, but they don't look Egyptian."

"They aren't," Mr. Moto affirmed. "I'm not entirely sure, but they look like a form of Hebrew."

"Hebrew letters look like little boxes?" Mina asked, tilting her head

"Wait, say what?" Amber perked up, dashing over to Yugi, Mina, Raye and Tea. She stared at the characters, eyes wide. _{Sariah, can you read those?}_

_Of course! That's my name!_ Sariah exclaimed in disbelief. _"I can read everything on these walls!"_ She appeared beside Amber and waved her arms at the walls. _"They tell the story of my life and events that happened in my lifetime! Amber, this is my tomb!"_

_{Oh, you've got to be kidding me!}_ Amber traced Sariah's name with her finger._ {No wonder Shadi said the plan changed – we needed to find __**your**__ tomb before the Pharaoh's!}_

_{You died, Sariah?}_ Cloe piped up innocently and sadly. If Amber had been able to see the little doll's face, she would have seen Cloe's wide, shocked eyes.

"_Technically, yes, Cloe, but that's a long story,"_ Sariah said in an attempt to comfort the doll.

"Hey Amber, you alright?" Raye asked, putting a hand on Amber's shoulder.

"Hm?" Amber turned around. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. It's just weird finding Hebrew in an Egyptian tomb."

"Uh, Professor Hawkins?" one of the archeologists asked warily. "We can't seem to enter into the hall where they are." He punched the air – only for an unseen force to stop the man's fist.

"What on Earth?" the woman standing next to him muttered. Professor Hawkins walked past them. "We tried doing that, sir, but we..."

He turned around. "But what? There's nothing there." The other two archeologists put their hands up in front of them and pushed them forward. The forward momentum of their hands was stopped by the invisible force again. Professor Hawkins cocked an eyebrow. "You sure you aren't pulling my leg?"

"Positive, sir," the man replied.

"Then don't try to come through any further!" Mr. Moto barked suddenly. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him wide-eyed.

"Why, Grandpa?" Yugi asked.

"Look at who's over here, and look who's being kept there," Mr. Moto replied, waving his arms around. Sure enough, all the archeologists – save Professor Hawkins and one white-haired young man – were back closer to the entrance. All of Amber's friends, both from Tokyo and Domino, the Kaiba brothers, Mr. Mizuno, Professor Hawkins, and Mr. Moto had gone about halfway into the hall. "The rest of you need to play it safe and stay back," he said to the archeologists sternly.

"You sure about that, Grandpa?" Yugi asked.

"But, sir-" a bearded man began to protest; Mr. Moto held up a hand and cut him off.

"Many years ago I went into the Tomb of the Nameless Pharaoh," Mr. Moto explained, folding his arms over his chest. "There, those that entered unwanted by the spirit of the Pharaoh were killed. Be grateful that the spirit of this tomb is merely keeping you out with a shield." The teenagers, as well as Rini and her two new friends, gasped at this.

"But, Mr. Moto, why were we allowed to pass through the barrier?" Amy asked, hand on her chin in a scholarly manner.

"I don't know," Mr. Moto shrugged.

As the archeologists filed out of the entrance, Mr. Mizuno called to them, "I'll take pictures of everything, promise!"

Serena let out a strangled cry, slapping a hand on her mouth. "Darien, look at this!" she squealed, staring in shock at the large figures drawn on a section of the wall.

"What is it, Ser- oh my goodness!" Darien now saw the same picture, and his jaw hung slack in astonishment. The Domino teens and the Scouts crowded around the couple to better see the color picture. Mr. Mizuno immediately held his camera up to his eye and began focusing the lens on the picture.

There, on the wall, was a figure of a pale-skinned woman wearing a long strapless white dress that hugged her legs. Her white hair was styled with two buns with trailing ponytails behind them, just like Serena's hair was, and a gold crescent moon was evident beneath her bangs. Kneeling before her was a man with dark skin, wearing traditional white Egyptian clothing and sandals. A gold headpiece adorned his forehead, but what was most plain was his spiked black, blonde and magenta hair style.

"Hey, Yugi, that guy looks just like you!" Mokuba shouted, pointing at the man. Amber backed away from the group, clutching the fabric at her chest.

"And that looks like Serena!" Tea said, gazing at the woman.

"No... it's not quite Serena," Amy mused. "Her hair is too pale." She gasped, and all the Scouts looked at each other.

"C-could it be..." Raye began, biting her lip before saying what she thought.

"It says here next to the image that the name of the woman is Queen Serenity, the... queen of the Moon Kingdom," Professor Hawkins read, holding his shaky finger next to a cartouche holding Egyptian characters. "It would seem that... the pharaoh of Egypt made a pact of peace with this queen of the moon. This is astonishing! This is the first record we have of extraterrestrial life!" Everyone was speechless; the Scouts looked at each other, uncertain whether to reveal their secret.

_Yami, Ishizu did tell us to search for a warrior __moon__ princess, right?_ Yugi asked the Pharaoh.

_**Yes, she did,**_ Yami replied, appearing beside the boy. _**"Apparently I interacted with this queen thousands of years ago and created a bond between the two kingdoms... This must be a clue to finding the princess! We're close!"**_

_But this image is 5000 years old,_ Yugi reminded him, furrowing his eyebrows. _Could the moon princess be a descendant of this queen? Would she even be here on the planet?_

All Amber could do was stare in shock at the picture, pressing her back against the opposite wall, fingers drumming against it. _No... freakin'... way. This... can't have happened! Queen Serenity and the Pharaoh are from two different dimensions! I should've better seen the signs – I should've stopped this!_ She dropped to her knees. "Oh no..." she muttered.

Tea turned to see Amber on her hands and knees. "Amber, what's wrong?" She darted over to the trembling red-head.

"Amber?" Yugi immediately dropped all thoughts of the moon princess and was at Amber's side.

"Amber!" Rini dashed over to her friend and knelt in front of her. "What's wrong?"

She didn't see anything but the stone floor she stared at, barely heard her friends gather closer to her. Her body shook a little more violently, even though it was anything but cold. "T-this wasn't supposed to happen..." she whispered, the silence amplifying her voice. "I'm such a failure."

"What kind of nonsense is that?" Joey roared.

"What are you talking about?" Raye demanded, violet eyes concerned and angry.

Rebecca stamped her foot and barked, "Amber, snap out of it!"

Yugi touched Amber's shoulder with his fingertips. "Amber..."

Shaking her head, long curls hid Amber's forming tears. She hated crying in front of people she knew and loved, one of the many reasons she grew her hair out. _I have to do this... I hope they don't see... how much it hurts._

"...Amber?" Serena whispered, eyes wide.

That did it. _Milady..._ Biting her lip, Amber covered her face with her hands – and wailed.

Her cries activated her guardian powers – the power to weave and rip apart interlocking dimensions.

The world became a blinding, shaking white. A force like a whirlwind in strength pushed against everyone as Amber's squeals silenced.

Shouts echoed as people were knocked to the ground. Darien held Serena close, and Rini grabbed them. "Rebecca!" she shouted, seeing the sandy-haired girl sliding away from her.

"RINI!" Rebecca crawled towards Rini, hand outstretched.

"Stay close, Mokuba!" Kaiba ordered his brother, grabbing his arm.

"Wait, Seto! RINI!" Mokuba cried out, reaching for Rini with no success.

"Hold on, Serenity!" Tristan tried to assure Serenity, holding her to him.

"Daddy," Amy muttered, frightened, hugging Mr. Mizuno as he wrapped an arm around her protectively. Raye, Mina, and Tea tried to huddle to stay together, but Tea was flung away from the other two girls towards Yugi, Tristan, and Serenity.

"Hang on! I've got ya!" Joey told Lita, grabbing her arms. They were the only two still standing.

Lita panted, her ponytail fluttering about. "I-I'm slipping!" Her hands slide from his arms and clung to his hands. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Don't worry, you're- agh!- not goin' anywhere!" Joey had almost let go, but he took a step closer to her and grasped her hands harder. Despite their strength, the strength of the wind-like force pushed them apart even further. Gradually, painfully, their hands were ripped apart.

Tears flying from her eyes, Lita shouted, "JOEY!"

"LITA!" Joey's anguished cries tore his own heart.

Then, and only then, did Amber let herself see out at her friends between her fingers. _Lita... Joey... Rini... Rebecca... Tea... Raye... All of them have bonded so... I..._

_I can't do this._

_I can't separate them._

Amber whipped her arms out to her sides, eyes closed, tears turned to gold. A golden energy swirled from her fingertips, blasting out and replacing the whiteness. The gold color drained away back into Amber like water into a towel until the walls of Sariah's tomb were visible again.

Everyone simply stared at them. Tristan muttered, "What was that all about?"

Just then, Amber fell forward, blacking out in seconds.

* * *

"Amber? Amber, wake up! Please!" A child's voice registered to Amber's ears. Small hands shook her shoulder. _R-rini..._

"Take it easy, man, give her some space." _Who's that...? Oh, Tristan._

"Oh, please be alright!" Amy pleaded.

Amber's eyes began to shiver open. Her cheek mashed into the stonework on the floor, leaving its imprint on her face. "Huh... What's all the fuss?" she half-whispered, raising her head up.

"What's all the fuss?" Raye barked. "Amber, you were totally knocked out after... whatever you did!"

Amber struggled to push herself to her knees. "I... I should be dead..." she muttered. A single tear dropped from her eye to the floor.

"WHAT?" came the collective shout.

Hunched over on her knees, Amber gulped. _Ok, here goes for the explanation..._ "I... You guys were never supposed to meet. Joey, don't interrupt." She didn't have to look up to know Joey was outraged enough to ask what the blazes she meant.

She paused, trembling."You're from entirely different dimensions... different worlds."


	13. Chapter 12

[Author note; feel free to skip it if they annoy you.]

MU: Ok, so before I begin the chapter, just a note, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Sailor Moon. Those belong to Kazuki Takahashi and Naoko Takeuchi. I do own my characters, namely Amber, Sariah, Amberlee, Cloe, and any other OCs I choose to stick in the story.

Rini: Do you have to remind them of that?

MU: Well, it's better to be on the safe side...

Rini: [rolls eyes] Whatever.

* * *

Silence thicker than wool wrapped around the group. All of them struggled to accept the words Amber had just said. Lita and Joey looked at each other, eyes shocked and sorrowed. Yugi looked between Amy, Rini, and Tea, then back at Amber. The only one that didn't appear too nervous or scared was Kaiba, who looked at the rest of them with a hint of a glare.

"Here's your backpack," Rini muttered, holding out a brown bag to Amber. "You dropped it during... um..."

Amber nodded slowly. "Thanks," she whispered. Slower than molasses, she took the bag from Rini and clutched it to her chest. Rini knelt by Amber, crimson eyes asking a million questions.

"So... you're saying we're from different planets than your Tokyo friends?" Tristan finally asked.

"Not necessarily planets," Amber murmured. "Dimensions."

"What's the difference?" Serenity asked in a shaky voice.

Sighing, Amber shifted her legs so she was sitting against the wall. "How do I explain this... It's complicated, and theories have only been explored in sci-fi..." Her fingers tapped on her backpack. "Basically, you all know how planets are separated by distance or space, right?" she began, holding her fists about half a foot apart. After a few understanding nods, Amber continued, "Well, dimensions are separated by time, like this." Her hands were now flat and stacked on top of each, other palms down.

"I know how that works!" Rebecca said proudly. Rini raised an eyebrow, looking at Rebecca strangely.

"Wait, now I'm lost," Serena said, scratching her head.

"Guess this is out of your league, spaghetti head," Seto murmured. Serena glared at the Kaiba, hand in a fist.

"Seto," Amber growled. "Anyways," she said, continuing in her informative voice, "the different dimensions seem to be entirely different planets, but they're simply different versions of the same world. It'd kinda like how there are different editions of books published, or like alternate timelines."

"Alternate timelines?" Mr. Mizuno asked.

"They're often a plot device in stories," Amy explained. "I've seen historical fiction written exploring possibilities like, 'what if America was still a British colony' or 'what if someone had stopped their loved one's death' and the like."

"Only in this case it's more than a device," Amber stated firmly, lowering her hands. "It's part of reality, something I'm starting to understand." She held her hands up palm down, about an inch apart. "Each of my hands is a dimension. One is formed by one set of choices several people have made, or by a natural cause or something else major. The other is formed by a different set of choices those same people made or by a different natural cause. Dimensions can even be formed by a lack of something from a different dimension."

"Hold on a minute," Tristan interrupted, holding up a hand. "How do we know that this dimension stuff is true and not just one of your stories you mixed up with reality?"

"Tristan, that's mean!" Serenity scolded him, making Tristan jump. "She's never mixed up her wonderful stories with reality!"

"She's right, although I understand your concern," Amber said calmly. "Let's see, how can I prove this..." She tapped her chin, staring at the floor between her feet. "Yugi, how old am I?" she looked up and asked him.

Yugi blinked, face blank with confusion. "Uh, you're sixteen, like I am," he answered.

"No she isn't!" Rini exclaimed as the other Scouts stared at Yugi in shock.

"She's fourteen, about half a year younger than us," Amy confirmed, pointing at herself, Serena, Lita, Mina, and Raye.

"You're both right," Amber said to Amy and Yugi. "In your dimension, Yugi, I'm sixteen. In your dimension, Amy, I'm fourteen."

"Yeah, right," Kaiba murmured. "How can someone be two ages at the same time? It's impossible!" he barked.

"Because time flows differently for me in both dimensions," Amber explained. "However, right now they're merging, so both of my counterparts are now the same person. Before the dimension began merging, each of you had a counterpart in the opposite dimension. For some of you, your counterpart in the opposite dimension was older or younger than you are, and for the rest, your counterpart matched your own age." Sighing, she ran her fingers through her hair and continued, "The merging dimensions also caused you to merge with your counterpart. Apparently the dimensions are only partway through the merging process, otherwise you Tokyo girls would've known about Duel Monsters and those of you from Domino would know about the Sailor Scouts, famous superheros from the dimension of my Tokyo friends."

She paused, allowing her words to sink in. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Serenity was the only one not looking at her. "Serenity?"

Serenity perked up. "Oh, I'm fine, it's just..." Looking back at the woman, Queen Serenity, on the wall, she murmured. "She's beautiful." With a smile, she kept looking at the picture and said, "Go on."

Amber lifted an eyebrow, then shrugged. "Ok. So, sometimes commonalities in two similar dimensions cause them to merge together. This can happen in two ways – either by mere happenstance, or by the influence of two or more people."

"What's 'happenstance'?" a small voice asked.

"Huh? WHAT?" Amber jumped when she saw Cloe standing there next to her. Everyone else cried out in alarm as well. "Cloe, what are you doing? I told you to stay in my pocket!"

Cloe pouted, blue eyes shining as she held her hands behind her back. "It was stuffy in there, and I wanted to meet your friends," she said sadly.

"Awww, she's so cute!" Tea squealed, picking up the little doll and cuddling her. Cloe giggled. "Hey, your stomach is cloth!" Tea said suddenly, looking at Cloe in astonishment.

"Yep! And it's filled with plastic beads!" Cloe piped happily.

Amber sighed, rubbing her forehead with her fingers. "That's because she's a doll," she murmured.

"Say what?" Joey exclaimed, jaw slack.

"Well, so much for staying hidden," Amberlee grimaced, hopping out of Amber's pocket. In an instant she burst to her full twenty-three inch height. "Looks like the cat's out of the bag!"

"Who said anything about letting the cat out of the bag?" Luna cried, poking her head out of Serena's large purse.

"Luna! What are you thinking?" Serena yelped, her forehead veins bulged angrily.

"AH! A talking cat!" Tristan yelled, pointing at Luna.

"Yes, I'm a talking cat!" Luna barked at the startled brunette boy. To Serena she said, annoyed, "That bag lacked proper oxygen, and I have as many questions about this dimension and alternate timeline jabber as you do!"

"Wow, a talking cat," Mokuba murmured, peering curiously at the black cat. "That's cool!"

"Fascinating," Professor Hawkins murmured. Mr. Moto nodded in agreement.

"Can I come out, too, Mommy?" little Diana squeaked from behind Luna.

"Hey, another talking cat!" Rebecca exclaimed, grinning.

"That one's my cat," Rini said proudly.

"Ok, what's up with the living dolls and the talking cats?" Joey exclaimed, scratching his head furiously.

"Amberlee and Cloe have always been able to talk," Lita told him matter-of-factly. "Same with the three cats." Right then Artemis poked his head out of Mina's bag.

Kaiba, still unperturbed by all this, said snidely, "Isn't it obvious, Wheeler? They're obviously just robots."

"Hey, I am not a robot!" Artemis yelled at the young CEO.

"I can assure you, Mr. Kaiba, that I am very much NOT a robot," Amberlee informed him, arms crossed.

"But how are you talking and moving?" Tea asked.

"With magic!" Cloe piped up from Tea's arms.

"Pul-eaze, there's no such thing as magic," Kaiba shot back.

"YES THERE IS!" Cloe screamed. Tea flinched at the loud voice next to her ear.

Amber winced, holding her hands over her ears. "Cloe, don't," she hissed.

Cloe put a finger on her lip. "Sorry, I fowgot," she said sheepishly. Kaiba grunted.

"So, Amber, how does all these timeline and dimension theories relate to what just happened?" Mr. Moto asked Amber, drawing everyone's attention back to her.

"Well..." Amber began playing with her hair, searching for the right words. "See, someone these two dimensions managed to merge before I could find the connection. I think it started the day Melvin and those other kids started playing Duel Monsters at Crossroads Junior High."

"So Duel Monsters doesn't exist in their dimension?" Yugi asked.

"That's why none of us had heard about the game before," Raye said with a shrug. Amber nodded.

"What about someone named Sailor V that I've been hearing about at school that's in a lot of arcade games?" Mokuba asked. Mina flinched at the name.

"She's... definitely from their dimension," Amber replied, gesturing at the Scouts.

"What about that bracelet?" Rini asked, pointing at Amber's wrist.

Holding it up, Amber stared at the golden chain for a moment. The Eye of Udjat at its center glimmered with an unseen power. "It's... from Yugi's dimension."

"Is that what caused that light and earthquake?" Raye asked, a bit calmer.

"Actually, no," Amber began, standing up slowly. "What caused that was-" She stopped, sensing someone other than her friends – someone malicious.

She heard a faint click.

"Yugi, look out!" she yelled, leaping forward and snagging him with one arm. She slammed the short boy against the opposite wall. A long-shafted arrow landed right where Yugi had been.

"Woah," Yugi muttered, wincing as a sharp object in his bag poked his shoulder.

"Sorry, Yugi-kun," Amber muttered, not moving her gaze from the arrow in the floor.

"Where'd that come from?" Mina shouted. Cloe clung a bit tighter to Tea. Everyone backed away from the arrow. Mr. Mizuno took a picture of it and continued photographing the walls.

"There's more to this tomb than what meets the eye," a deep, malevolent voice answered from the shadows beyond their lamps and flashlights. It startled Mr. Mizuno into almost dropping his camera.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Raye yelled at the darkness, hands in fists.

"With pleasure," the voice hissed. A silhouette of a young man walked closer to the halo of light the others stood in.

Amber growled; she'd skimmed the young man's mind. "It's..."

He stepped into the light, the Millennium Ring glowing over his white and blue shirt.

"BAKURA!" the Domino teens exclaimed.


	14. Chapter 13

"Well, it's not exactly Bakura," Yugi murmured, still being pinned to the wall by Amber's arm.

"It's the spirit of the Millennium Ring! That's worse!" Joey exclaimed as Bakura chuckled.

"That is correct," Bakura said, his grin evil.

_The Spirit of the Ring?_ Mina thought in shock, staring at the twisted young man. _But... moments ago he was a sweet boy that kept me from falling over. Is he that same guy?_

_{He's not,}_ Amber told Mina, glancing at the blonde. _{The kind, caring Bakura is being possessed by that fiend.}_ The idea made Mina shudder.

"T-that's the Millennium Ring?" Rini asked, her voice shaking. Her eyes fixed onto the pendant hanging from a cord around his neck."W-what is it?"

"That necklace he's wearing is an item of shadow magic," Tea clarified. Cloe quivered, burying her face into Tea's short hair.

"How'd you fire that arrow?" Amber demanded of the thief spirit, reflecting the anger she and Sariah both shared.

Bakura laughed. "I discovered the few traps set up further down the hall. With the aid of the shadows, I set one off."

"Ha, if shadows are your power, we'll take you down!" Raye exclaimed.

"Yeah, you're no match for us!" Serena chimed.

"We'll whup you into the next life!" Lita added, grinning wryly.

Joey was aghast. "Woah, hold on! You guys don't know what you're up against!" he exclaimed, waving his hands about.

Bakura chuckled again. "I'm not interested in you Sailor nothings anyways!"

"Sailor..." Mokuba murmured, the word tugging at his brain.

Bakura flung his arm out, pointing at Yugi and Amber while shouting, "I challenge the Pharaoh and his Queen to a duel!"

Removing her arm, Amber stood, boring her gaze into Bakura's face. "Fine then!" she yelled, yanking out a Duel Disk from her backpack. She thrust it onto her left arm, clicking the brace in place. The bracelet glowed on her wrist; closing her eyes, she allowed Sariah to take over.

When she opened her eyes again, Sariah's serious dark brown eyes glared at the maniacal spirit of the Ring. "If a duel with me is what you wish, then that is what you get!" Sariah exclaimed. Her voice was slightly deeper and more mature than Amber's. Next to her, Yugi pulled out his own Duel Disk and snapped it in place on his arm.

Raye spun, startled. "That's not Amber," she muttered, glaring at the girl.

"She is acting differently," Mina affirmed, scrutinizing Sariah.

Grinning wickedly, Bakura held up his arm, the light glinting off the black details on his alternate Duel Disk. "This will be interesting," he said. "However, there isn't enough room in here to duel." He was right, Sariah and Yugi could tell; the hall was rather narrow, about half the size of a duel area or less. "Further back here is an area large enough." He beckoned with one hand, stepping backwards towards the darkness.

"Psh, no way are we going to follow you!" Lita said, glaring.

"Yeah, we can't trust you!" Joey added, fists clenched.

"Don't speak too soon," Sariah said calmly to both of them as they looked at her. She snapped her fingers, and the previously unlit torches on the walls sparked into healthy flames. Sure enough, just beyond where they stood, the walls of the hall ended, and a giant doorway blocked their path.

Mokuba, Rini, and Rebecca all stared at Sariah. "Woah, how'd you do that, Amber?" Mokuba asked.

Sariah smirked knowingly, which sent tremors up Rini's spine. _That's not a look Amber would give..._ she thought worriedly.

_{Ok, that was cool, but be careful,}_ Amber chastised, appearing invisibly to Sariah. _{"You're scaring my friends,"}_ she added, furrowing her eyebrows.

Sariah nodded faintly, looking at her host. _I'll keep that in mind. However, this is my tomb, so of course I can affect it, and I will when needed._

At the top of the door was a golden Eye of Udjat, the same symbol present on the Millennium Puzzle and Bracelet. A line splitting it in two ran to the ground, indicating that there were actually two doors.

"How do we get inside?" Yugi asked, scratching his forehead.

Just then, the Eye of Udjat appeared on the back of Sariah's hand. Gasping, she looked down at it as the same symbol began glowing on her forehead as well.

"Woah! Holy creepy eye!" Serena exclaimed, clinging to Darien's arm.

As gradual as a changing minute hand on a clock, Sariah raised her left arm up in front of her. The eye glowed both on her palm and on the back of her hand. She stared at the door and walked toward it, taking her time in doing so. As if in a trance, her friends simply watched on, confused and awed (well, everyone except the snide Seto Kaiba). It wasn't long before Sariah pressed her hand against the doors. Light burst from her fingertips and from the widening gap between the doors.

Groaning like old men, the stone doors screeched against the stone floor, revealing a large room. It, too, contained walls filled with pictures and hieroglyphics. Torches jutted out at intervals along the walls, and at the wall furthest from the room was a sort of table, like an altar meant to hold sacred items.

Hesitant at first, eventually the group entered the room, staring about them in awe. "This is... incredible..." Darien murmured. However, he glanced at Sariah, thinking, _Something's not right with Amber. It's as if... she's a different person. What was it that wack job said about a Pharaoh and Queen? He seemed to be talking to Yugi and Amber._

Now that everyone was in the room, Bakura held up his arm that held his Duel Disk. "This should be an easy task defeating you two, Pharaoh, Sariah," he seething, a twisted gleam in his eyes.

"You wish!" Yugi glared at Bakura, grasping the chain of the Millennium Puzzle.

"Hold up!" a female voice shouted. The voice had a masculine touch to it.

Everyone stared up at the ceiling where the voice had come from. A hole had appeared, and four girls dropped from it to the floor, landing gracefully from their circus training.

"The Amazoness Quartet!" Serena yelped as the girls stood. Darien growled.

"Amazoness Quartet?" Tristan wondered to himself, looking at the girls. Each girl's hair and clothing were one main color. One girl was red, another was pink, another was light blue, and the last one, the one that had spoken, was green. Each of them carried a ball in their hands that matched their main color, except the pink girl whose ball was yellow.

"We've gotta take their dream mirrors first!" the green-haired girl barked at Bakura.

Bakura glared at the scantily-clad girls. "I told you, JunJun, after the duel you're free to get their mirrors!" he seethed at them.

"Not if we can help it!" Mina yelled.

Lita cracked her knuckles. "You aren't touching anyone's mirrors today, you creeps! HIYAAA!" She charged at the Amazoness Quartet, fists brandished.

"Lita! No!" Sariah and Rini yelled.

"We need to transform!" Mina shouted after the tomboy, but to no avail.

"Ha ha! Try this, punk!" the red girl shouted, throwing her red ball out in front of her. "Sticky ball!" Instantaneously, Lita was covered in a red goop and frozen in her tracks.

"Agf!" Lita tried to shout, only the goop started to get into her mouth.

"LITA!" Joey shouted, running towards her.

The blue one giggled, readying a pool stick in her hands. "No way, boy! You're going to play with ParaPara!" She fired off her blue ball with the pool stick. It bounced off several walls in the room before smashing into Joey's back. Joey screamed as something appeared out of him, glowing and spinning rapidly. As he fell to the ground, the object stopped spinning, revealing itself to be his Dream Mirror. "Ha ha! See that, CeleCele? I got him!" ParaPara squealed to the pink-haired girl.

"No! Joey!" Serenity shouted, running to her brother. She gasped as she saw a deep impression of the ball left in Joey's back.

"Stupid ParaPara, that boy doesn't have the Golden Dream Mirror!" CeleCele scolded upon seeing the plain pink border on the mirror that all normal Dream Mirrors had.

The goop disappeared from off Lita. "Joey!" she exclaimed. She and Serenity knelt by the unconscious Joey.

"They got his Mirror!" Amy exclaimed worriedly.

"Amy, what the blazes is going on?" Mr. Mizuno demanded.

"Pelting Ball!" the pink-haired girl shouted, her yellow ball shattering into several smaller balls. The marble-sized spheres pelted the untransformed Scouts, along with Mr. Mizuno, Tristan, Tea, Mokuba and Kaiba. Except Kaiba, they all screamed.

"Hey, that hurt!" Mokuba shouted at the Quartet angrily.

The red girl now had her ball back safely in her hand. "Not as much as this will, kid!" A pool stick in her own hand, she fired it towards Mokuba, shouting, "Time for some dream pool!" Shouting, Mokuba ducked as the ball narrowly missed him.

"I'll join you for that, BesuBesu!" JunJun sneered. "I'll aim at our target!" The ball at the end of her pool stick aimed right at Yugi.

Yugi froze, uncertain of what to do, as his grandpa shouted, "Get out of the way!"

Bakura smirked. "Fine, I'll let you girls work," he murmured, thrusting a card into the air. "I activate - Chain Energy!"

"Whawhahwa? What's this?" Serena yelped as everyone in the room had their arms tied to their sides by greyish ropes of energy. Even the three cats were tied up in similar ropes, meowing as they tried to escape.

Sariah growled, struggling to free her arms. "That fiend activated a Duel Monsters card – for real!"

"What? But how?" Professor Hawkins asked, shocked.

Sneering, Bakura told the Quartet, "Now deal with the Pharaoh!"

"You got it, sweet cheeks," the pink-haired girl, CeleCele, replied with a wink. "Alright, girls!" All four girls aimed the colored spheres right at Yugi. Panicking, Yugi tried to run, but with his arms pinned to his sides, he tripped over his own feet instead.

"Green in the back pocket!" JunJun shouted, firing off her ball.

ParaPara giggled, then shouted, "Blue in the back pocket!"

"Red in the back pocket!" came from an eager BesuBesu.

"Yellow dream ball in the back pocket!" CeleCele exclaimed. All four nearly collided with Yugi but started bouncing off the walls. One forced itself into Tea's back, one smashed into Tristan, another smashed into Rebecca's back, and the last one, finally, slammed itself into Yugi's back. All four of them screamed as their Dream Mirrors appeared in front of them. As Tea fell, Cloe dropped from her arms squealing, but luckily Amberlee caught the blonde doll.

"Oh, man, none of these guys have the Golden Dream Mirror!" JunJun complained. Bakura grunted at the comment as he put away his Chain Energy card. Its spell was deactivated, freeing everyone from the gray ropes.

"Rebecca!" Professor Hawkins exclaimed, kneeling by his granddaughter's body. Raye and Mina rushed to Tea's unconscious form.

ParaPara blinked, staring down at Yugi. "Uh, that boy has two Dream Mirrors," she said blankly, pointing at him. The Scouts in the room instantly stared at Yugi.

"WHAT?" Her three sisters leaned over Yugi. Sure enough, floating above the motionless Yugi were two mirrors – one with the normal pink frame and one with an Eye of Udjat at the top of its golden frame.

"Isn't that the Golden Dream Mirror?" BesuBesu asked, poking the eye on the strange second mirror.

"No, there's something wrong with it," CeleCele insisted, a hand on her chin.

Serena looked at Sariah worriedly. "Amber, how can a person have two Mirrors?" she asked, clenching her hands.

"Serena, that's not-" Raye began, only to stop herself when Sariah gave her a stern stare.

Sariah looked at Serena out of the side of her eyes. "Think about it – one person has one Mirror. Therefore, if one body has two mirrors..." She trailed off, turning her gaze back to the Quartet.

Suddenly, the second mirror began to glow, evaporating like mist out of sight. The Quartet stared, their eyes bulging from their heads. The Millennium Puzzle also glowed – and the boy opened his eyes.

The Quartet screamed and hugged each other as Yami pushed himself up to a sitting position. "What – you're not supposed to do that!" JunJun yelled in fright.

Sariah smiled gratefully. _There's my Pharaoh. Took him a while, though._

_{Yeah, he could've shown up sooner.}_ Amber humphed, crossing her translucent arms across her chest.

Smirking, Yami stood up. "Now, if you don't mind," he said to the Quartet, grasping Yugi's Dream Mirror, "I'll be taking this back." He pushed it back into his chest; it disappeared, scaring the girls further.

"You aren't supposed to do that, either!" BesuBesu screeched, trying to sound angry instead of like a frightened child.

"All of their mirrors have returned to them!" CeleCele said, glancing over the other victims now starting to sit up.

Waterfalls of tears pouring from her eyes, ParaPara screamed, "He's scary! ParaPara's scared!"

"Well, then, if the Pharaoh scares you so much, let me deal with him!" Bakura growled at the Quartet. "I told you to be patient until after the duel!" He pulled out a glass marble-sized orb from his pocket. An unseen dark aura surrounded the marble.

"Bakura!" Yami bellowed, simultaneously sending the Quartet into more bouts of weepy fright and getting Bakura's attention. "Why is it that you wish to duel me and Sariah?"

"Sariah?" the Scouts asked together, watching Sariah walk towards Yami.

Bakura replied with a grin, "There are secrets in this room, secrets I can only unlock once I have defeated you and taken the Millennium Items you both possess. Therefore, whoever wins the duel will win any and all Items the loser has."

"What? Why such conditions over a card game?" Raye demanded.

"Isn't that a bit irrational?" Amy asked.

Joey stared at the girls, bewildered as as he leaned against Lita and Serenity. "That's how we always do things here," he explained.

"There's a lot of ancient magic stuff involved with Duel Monsters," Tristan added.

"Ancient magic?" Luna asked. She and Serena looked at each other, both immediately thinking about the moments where the Puzzle and Serena's compact reacted to each other.

Sariah looked at the Pharaoh standing beside her. "What he asks is a very risky challenge," she commented. Her hand coiled around the Bracelet on her wrist.

"I know," Yami replied, meeting her eyes. "But we must do this."

"Agreed," Sariah said with a nod.

Both with knowing smiles, Yami and Sariah both lifted their Duel Disk-bearing arms, meeting Yami's gaze evenly. "We accept your challenge," Yami said, confidence shining through his violet eyes.

"We'll be able to defeat you at a two-on-one duel with ease," Sariah added.

"Oh, I won't be dueling alone," Bakura assured them wickedly, holding up the marble.

Sariah chuckled. "Who'll be your partner, then? One of those silly girls?" She pointed at the Quartet huddled together. CeleCele snuck a glare at the Queen.

Bakura roared with laughter. "Oh, no, they know nothing of Duel Monsters. I have another ally in mind." As Sariah and Yami gave the thief spirit confused looks, Bakura continued, "She's on her way right now." He pocketed the marble and waved his arm out to his side.

Dark tendrils of magic swirled around the spot his fingers pointed at. Merging together, they formed an oval portal. A black boot stepped through the portal, followed by another. The rest of the figure followed, a woman dressed in a black uniform much like a Japanese boy's school uniform at Crossroads Junior High. On her left arm was a Duel Disk in dark colors like Bakura's.

Raye gasped. "Th-the dark energy coming from her... it's familiar!"

"How?" Mina asked.

Raye clenched her hand, glaring at the portal. "It feels like the Negaverse!" That got the Scouts' attention, even Rini's.

Standing in front of the disappearing portal, the woman looked up, a knowing sneer on her thin lips. She had auburn hair, freckles, and light brown eyes – just like Amber.

Basically, she looked like a twenty-something year old version of Amber.

"Nyeh! It's an evil Amber!" Joey shouted, jumping back. The Domino teens gasped, the adults looked just as shocked, and the Scouts glared at the woman.

Enraged, Amber immediately took control of her body again. "Amberite," she hissed, staring at her lifelong enemy.

* * *

MU: Man, writing for the Amazoness Quartet was HARD! Hopefully I portrayed them right; I'm not as familiar with them as I am with the other Sailor Moon bad guys.

Yugi: SailorMoonRocks1433 said you did a good job with that part.

MU: She did, but if any of you readers out there see some inaccuracies, let me know! Also, coming up - who on Earth is this new enemy? (Yes, she's an OC and will be explained)


	15. Chapter 14

Yami glanced at Amber. "Amberite?" he asked, confused.

"Yes," Amber seethed, her eyes not leaving the woman's face.

The woman, Amberite, laughed. "Oh, Amber, don't be so cold after all this time," she said silkily. Her fake friendliness reminded Amber of a boa constrictor and its deadly embrace. "How long has it been now? Six years that we've known each other?"

Amber clenched her hands. "Amberite, stop acting like we're friends or something! Especially after the hundreds of times you've tried to freakin' kill me!"

This just caused Amberite to laugh again. "Oh, I wouldn't say kill... although draining you of your energy would have left you lifeless, now, wouldn't it?"

"That's not funny!" Lita barked.

"Yeah, you're just a twisted freak!" Joey added, just as angry.

"Stop with your taunts, Amberite!" Amberlee yelled, holding Cloe close to her protectively.

"'Kill'? What's that?" ParaPara asked softly.

"It's not good, that's all I'll say," JunJun replied. The other two Amazonesses nodded as all four watched on curiously.

Amberite glanced at the Quartet only for a moment. She then coolly glanced at all of Amber's friends from both dimensions. Her smile mocked them so she wouldn't have to say a word to them. Turning her full attention back to Amber, a cold hardness set into her caramel brown eyes, turning them dark. "However, this time I don't need your energy or that of anyone else," she said, each word dripping with venom. "I've found another source of power – a power that will allow me to awaken my beloved Jedite, control this new dimension, and destroy you once and for all!" Her finger jabbed forward at Amber as she vented her anger. "And the only way I can get that power is by dueling the ancient Royals of Egypt!"

"And I'll get my share of that power, too!" Bakura reminded her with a sharp glance.

"Oh, of course, Bakura," Amberite replied casually, shrugging.

"No way! You're still trying to wake up Jedite and take over our world?" Raye asked, stunned.

"How'd you know about the merging stuff?" Tristan demanded of Amberite, who ignored him.

"Who are you?" the Pharaoh asked Amberite.

Amberite laughed again. "Hasn't my dear counterpart told you? I am her – just from another dimension!"

"What? No way! Amber would never be evil!" Joey yelled, ready to run up to her and punch her square in the jaw.

"It's true, though," Serena said, eyes downcast. "Well, kinda true."

Biting her lip, Amber stared down at the floor. "The dimension Serena and the others are from is aware of another dimension called the Negaverse," she began in explanation. She looked up and scanned over her friends faces, skimming their minds with her telepathy. The Scouts already knew her story; those of Domino, along with Mr. Mizuno, were still bewildered. Amber continued, "The Negaverse has always been trying to conquer that dimension, particularly their late ruler Queen Beryl. However, in order for the armies of the Negaverse to even cross the boundary between the dimensions, they needed to gather energy. Turns out Queen Beryl discovered one particular human with lots of energy, enough to send a small group of generals through the barrier to gather more energy. So, in order to gather that human's energy, Queen Beryl found that human's Negaverse counterpart, used magic to make her older than that human, and sent her after the original."

Amber looked down again. "That human... was me."

She heard a few soft gasps; Serenity muttered, "Poor Amber..."

Pausing, she continued, "I was only eight years old. Amberite, in disguise, tried to take my energy, but my powers activated and I drove her away... for a while." Now, she turned her attention, and silent fury, at Amberite, who stared off into space in boredom.

Closing her eyes, Amber tapped deep into her mind, searching for a few particular memories. Then, she sent them out to everyone in the room, friend and foe alike. They all watched the scenes, as if they were watching a movie they'd never seen the trailers for.

* * *

"_LET ME GO!" an eight-year old Amber shouted at a ninja-clad woman. A golden light formed around her. It grew brighter, and she broke free of the ropes that had bound her arms and legs._

"_What the—Fine, I guess I'll have to take you the hard way." The woman growled and started forward to grab her. _

_Amber took a few steps backwards. "GET BACK!" Amber shouted, holding her hand palm forward in front of her. The golden light gathered and pushed the woman back, crashing her into a tree. "Whoa, what did I do?" Amber asked, staring at her hands, then at the woman. _

"_I don't know, but I'm going to get you, no matter what it takes." The woman charged at Amber, dark energy dancing in her palms._

"_Oh, I don't think so," Amber retorted. She formed a golden ball in her hand and threw it at the woman. _

_This time, the woman fell onto the ground. She stood up slowly, gasping for air. "I'll... come back for you... next time... with reinforcements," the woman replied angrily. She made a black portal and she was sucked into it._

_

* * *

__A sphere of golden energy hit the woman square on the back. She turned around, teeth bared. "What?" She saw the silhouette of a ten year-old girl wearing a skirt that fluttered in the wind with her hair. The girl held another sphere just like the first one launched. The ninja woman glared, demanding of the girl, "Who are you?"_

"_I'm the one who makes sure monsters don't destroy Tokyo! It's already happened enough in the movies!" the girl, Amber, yelled confidently. She hurled her energy ball at the woman, then formed a net of energy and threw it on the ninja's monster pet, a Gigantasaurus. The woman deflected the energy ball, and the dinosaur managed to break the net. _

_Amber gasped. _My powers aren't strong enough!_ she thought in alarm."Uh, oh, now what should I do?"_

"_You should go away and leave me alone!" The woman fired black lightning bolts at Amber, but Amber put her hands straight out to each side and activated a gold force field around herself, which deflected the lightning. As the woman fired more lightning, Amber jumped and leaped to get away from them, performing flips and spins even an acrobat would envy. She eventually landed on the sidewalk, posed for action._

"_That's the last thing I'd ever do!" Amber brought her hands in front of her and absorbed the gold energy from her shield into her cupped hands. Then, aiming for the Gigantasaurus, she shot the energy at it in a gold ray. The Gigantasaurus roared in pain, and Amber shot another beam of light at it the same way as before. It disintegrated, leaving behind a small ancient-looking dinosaur bone and a silver glowing sphere. _

_Amber sighed in relief. "I'm glad that's over." She turned her attention from the bone and orb to the woman still hovering in the air. _

"_Next time," the woman warned, eyes in flames, "you'll be history, girl. No one defeats the Jewel Ninja and gets away with it!" She made a black portal below her and dropped into it._

_

* * *

_"_Ultra Tiara Magic!" Amber shouted, throwing a golden, sparkling Frisbee-like weapon at a feminine green-skinned monster. The weapon pierced the monster; it shrieked until it collapsed into a pile of dust. _

_Smiling, Amber took the weapon, now clearly a golden tiara, and replaced it on her forehead. Sticking out of the dust was a long-stemmed rose, still a bud with how its ruby red petals were tightly closed. Amber strode over to the dust pile, her golden tall boots clicking on the sidewalk, and picked up the rose delicately. This time, her outfit was plainly visible. The base of it was a white leotard with leggings that reached her knees under a golden sailor collar. Large green bows sat over her developing chest and the small of her back. A golden pleated skirt hung over halfway down her thighs, and white gloves covered her hands and her arms up to her elbows with golden bands at the end._

"_The third rose," Amber muttered, her thumb gliding over a smooth petal. "Four more to go, now."_

_Half in shadow, the Jewel Ninja snorted in poorly hidden anger. "Well, I'm out," she muttered. She flung her arm out and opened a portal._

"_Wait!" Amber turned to face the Jewel Ninja. Her eyebrows furrowed over her stern light brown eyes as she told the Ninja, "I will defeat you. You cannot hide behind your monsters forever. Soon it will be you and me, one on one." For a thirteen-year old girl, Amber sounded mature and brave._

_Silence ensued; the only sound was a dog barking down the street. "You'll never destroy me, Sailor Universe" the Jewel Ninja said coolly. "You cannot." Her hand reached up for her hood, and she peeled it off of her head._

_Long auburn curls fell from the black hood. Amber gasped as she stared at an older mirror version of herself. "Who are you?"_

"_Technically, my name is yours – Amber. How about we stick with Amberite for now, though?" She sneered at the gaping Sailor Universe._

* * *

"_Moon Spiral... Heart Attack!" Her long blonde ponytails flying, Sailor Moon flung her wand up in the air, sending streams of light and hearts at a lion-like monster. The monster screamed as it was annihilated into nonexistence._

"_That was great, milady!" Amber, as Sailor Universe, congratulated Sailor Moon._

_Amberite smirked. "So the Sailor pep squad destroyed one weak monster. That' s not much cause for celebration." She shrugged._

"_Watch what you say, you punk!" Sailor Jupiter growled. "HIYAAA!" She charged at Amberite with a fist._

"_Jupiter! Stop!" Sailor Universe yanked the brunette back by her brawny arm. "Remember, we can't defeat her like that!"_

_Tugging her arm out from Sailor Universe's grip, Sailor Jupiter nodded slowly. "Yeah, I remember."_

_Amberite took a few steps backwards, intending to leave. Sailor Universe wove a golden energy net and threw it over the Negaverse lieutenant. As Amberite struggled in the net, Sailor Universe strode up to her, holding the Universe Scepter at her side. The other Inner Scouts held back, watching on worriedly. "You know why I can't kill you," Sailor Universe said, face as stern as her voice. "However..." She lifted up her Scepter, light glinting of the golden details. "I can ensure you won't return to this world. Ever."_

_The Scepter vanished; Sailor Universe touched the brooch on the front of her outfit. It opened, revealing a yellow-gold crystal within. Closing her eyes, she shouted as the crystal shone, "Universe... Crystal Healing... Activation!" The light penetrated Amberite, then glowed bright enough to blind the Scouts._

* * *

_It was growing dark as Amber walked home down the sidewalks of Tokyo. Smiling, Amber looked about her, observing, noting tiny details as she usually did. _

_Amberlee, currently keychain size, poked her head out of Amber's bag and said, "You'd best be on your guard, I sense something afoot," the doll warned._

"_You sure?" Amber asked, looking down at Amberlee._

"_Positive, can't you sense it?"_

_Amber rubbed her temples. "Well, I have been feeling abnormally tired, otherwise-" She gasped, whipping her head up._

_A familiar silhouette stood in front of her, red-brown hair stirring in the faint breeze. "Well, well... looks like I returned, little miss Universe."_

* * *

When Amber's memories ended, Yami was the first one to break the following silence. "You've dealt with her before, yet-"

"She keeps coming back, as if purifying her didn't work." Amber sighed, letting the silence sit for a moment. "The fact that your motives remain the same this time around doesn't surprise me, Amberite," she muttered, turning to face Amberite. Her unnaturally fierce gaze startled Yami, Yugi, and the others from Domino City. "But I assure you of one other thing that will remain the same. I will defeat you, and you will not attain your goals."

"Yeah! You tell her, Amber!" Raye cheered from the side of the room.

Amberite smirked. "This time will be different, little one." Amber growled.

_Wow, Amber's acting a lot like Sariah, isn't she?_ Yugi commented, slightly frightened, to Yami.

_**Yes, she is acting more determined and serious,**_ Yami replied. _**However, I think this comes from her other self, from the girls' dimension...**_

Bakura sighed, shaking his head. "Alright, enough story time, we have a duel-"

Amber flung her hand out, throwing a golden sphere of energy at Bakura. It thrashed him against the wall, knocking the air out of him.

"How'd you do that, Amber?" Serenity asked, clutching Joey's sleeve. The others from Domino had that same question in their eyes.

Amber shrugged. "These are the powers from my Sc- I mean, my Tokyo counterpart." She retracted her hand, watching a dumbfounded Bakura stand back up.

"So for all this time she's been trying to destroy you?" Mr. Muto asked, the only words he could manage.

"Yes," Amber replied. "However," she turned to Amberite, "You have one fact wrong – you are no longer me." She held up her Duel Disk. "When Queen Beryl transformed you, you became a second person, a dark one. Because I am of light and you are of darkness, I will defeat you as I have before, whether with my powers or my deck!"

Yami held up his Duel Disk. "Evil cannot stand for long in its twisted ways, and that goes for both of you," he said, switching his gaze between Amberite and Bakura.

Amber's Bracelet activated again, shifting control of her body to Sariah.

"Now, with that out of the way..." Sariah said with relief.

"LET'S DUEL!" Yami and Sariah shouted together. Their Duel Disks unfolded and turned on, beeping to signal they were ready. Bakura and Amberite mimicked their movements, activating their dark-colored Disks.

"With pleasure," Bakura said with an evil grin. Amberite chuckled. All four of them drew their hands, ready to begin.

* * *

Yugi: Wow, now that was a major flashback chapter! I thought you didn't like those!

MU: Well, I had to write in a bunch of flashbacks in order for Amber's and Amberite's story to make sense. I haven't exactly written their story out yet in it's entirety. What bugs me about flashbacks from your show is when they flash bask to the previous episode.

Yugi: Oh, ok, that makes sense.

Rini: Those would be annoying...

MU: Anyways... Now, my dear readers, I am facing a slight dilemma. I was planning on posting five chapters at once, but I've only put up four. That's because it's really difficult to write duels, and I need to figure out what Amberite's deck is gonna be like, as well as how the two bad guys are going to work together during the duel strategy-wise. If there's anyone that can write duels, or at very least is a good duelist and deck maker, please PM me! :D


	16. Chapter 15

Author's Note: Credit goes to **royalfortressmeadow** for creating the outline I used for this duel scene. Really, if it weren't for her, I couldn't have written this chapter. :)

* * *

Both team's life point meter beeped until they both read '4000'.

"Ladies first, ma'am," Bakura said with a coy undertone to Amberite. "You may have the honor of beginning the duel." He dipped his body into a low bow to Amberite, then straightened upright, his arm waving towards her.

"Oh, but I'm just a beginner!" Amberite protested with a wink, fingers daintly over her lips. "You start!"

_{Is she seriously flirting with the spirit of the Ring?}_ Amber wondered, staring at them with eyes the size of Granny B. cookies. _{That's not cool!}_

_I don't like the looks of that,_ Sariah added, her own stare at the former lieutenant hard and fierce. _She looks like the type that can toy with men to get what she wants._

_{She is… So much for her undying love to Jedite,}_ Amber said sarcastically, in a way that made Sariah smirk.

"On the other hand, Bakura," Amberite said suddenly, staring at Sariah as she addressed him, "we did challenge them. Perhaps they should start the duel instead." She chuckled, a low rumbling sound that contrasted her high voice. "Victory would be sweeter if we have the ending blow instead of the first move."

Sariah narrowed her eyes at Amberite, her lips a firm line. "Fine, then," she seethed. "I will draw first." She drew another card and added it to her hand.

"Go AJ! Go Yugi!" Tea and Serenity cheered.

"You can do it, Amber!" Cloe shouted, clapping happily in Tea's arms. The others from the peanut gallery, consisting of those from Tokyo and Domino, cheered as well. Amberlee, Luna, and Artemis stayed by Mina's feet, also cheering.

"So the duel begins," Amberite murmured. Light glinted off her painted black fingernails as she glanced down at the cards she held.

_{Wow, the black fingernail polish is a new touch for her,} _Amber remarked.

_Focus, Amber,_ Sariah reminded Amber as she studied her – or rather, their – hand. _Now is not a good time for your "squirrel" moments._

_{I know, sorry. Hey, that's the perfect starting monster!} _ Amber pointed at one of the cards, her fingertip passing through it.

Sariah smirked. _It is perfect. I know what else we can do, too._ "I summon Mysterious Puppeteer [1000/**1500**] in Defense Mode!" Once she set the card on her disk face-up, a figured draped entirely in purple holding a marionette appeared in front of her. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"Alright," Bakura replied, smiling. "My move!" He drew his top card and looked at it with a sneer. "I summon Earthbound Spirit [500/**2000**] in Defense Mode." A zombie-like creature appeared in front of him, moaning.

Serena and Rini, both wailing, clung to Darien's arms. "It's alive! It's scary!" they shouted.

"Oh, c'mon, it's just a hologram," Rebecca shot at the quivering girls, flipping up one of her ponytails. Across the room, the Amazoness Quartet huddled together even closer.

"You've activated Mysterious Puppeteer's special ability," Sariah announced. "Every time any one of us summons a monster, the Pharaoh and I gain 500 life points as long as my Puppeteer is on the field." As she spoke, her and Yami's life points rose to 4500.

Chuckling, Bakura's gaze skimmed over the still-quivering Serena once – and he sneered as his Ring faintly glimmered and quivered. "Fine, Queen. I place two cards face down and end my turn." His eyes pierced Yami. "Go."

Nodding, Yami silently drew a card. He studied it for a moment then placed it into his hand.

_You have a plan, Pharaoh?_ Sariah asked Yami along the four-way telepathic connection between them, Yugi, and Amber. She watched Yami out of the corner of her eye, stoic-faced.

Yami glanced at her and nodded. _**I do. Don't worry, we can do this together.**_

A tender smile crossed Sariah's lips, and Yami smiled slightly in return. He picked another card from his hand. "I activate Dark Magic Curtain!" He showed the card to his opponents, then discarded it. "By paying half of our life points, I can summon one particular monster from my deck." As he spoke, he searched his deck until he found what he was looking for; his and Sariah's lifepoints dropped to 2250. "Now, come forth Dark Magician [**2500**/2100]!" Dark Magician appeared in front of him, its staff readied in attack mode.

Blinking in surprise, Rini commented, "Hey, that one's kinda cute." Her grip on Darien loosened a bit.

"Wow, those holograms really do look lifelike," Mina commented, recalling when Yugi and the others told the Scouts about the duel disk systems.

"And this is only the beginning," Tristan added.

"This virtual technology seems a bit overboard for a simple card game, don't you think?" Mr. Mizuno asked, earning him a collective blank stare from the Domino group. "What?" he asked, shrugging.

"Luckily," Yami continued, "the ability of Sariah's Mysterious Puppeteer is still in effect." Their combined life points increased up to 2750. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

Amberite laughed. "That was a risky move, Pharaoh. You have so few life points compared to us that it'll be easy for me to drain that precious energy from you!" She drew a card, still laughing.

"Man, I like that lady even less," Joey said, studying Amberite.

Lita snorted lightly. "She's been nothing but trouble for us, especially for Amber."

"Wait," Joey said, looking at Lita. "I can get Amberite bein' after Amber, but why'd she bug you guys?"

Face reddening, Lita looked away from him. "Um, I'll explain later." She kept her eyes on the duel, forcing herself not to look at Joey at that moment.

"Now I activate the magic card Graceful Charity!" Amberite announced, holding it out for Yami and Sariah to see. "That lets me draw three more cards from my deck as long as I discard two." Looking over her newly acquired cards, she picked one of the three out and said, "Perfect! One of them is just what I needed – Monster Reborn, which I now activate to summon a monster from my Graveyard!" She discarded the Monster Reborn card and collected a different card, exclaiming, "The monster I summon is… Dark Magician of Chaos [**2800**/2600]!" She flung her hand out dramatically as the declared monster appeared before her.

Amber gasped. _{Yugi, that looks exactly like your Magician of Black Chaos!}_

_It does, but this monster works differently than that one,_ Yugi replied to her over their connection.

_{Oh, of course… just like how Amberite is my copy, but very different from me. Clever.}_ Amber's tone was stiff and cold, causing Yugi to give her a worried look.

"The Pharaoh and I gain 500 more life points with you summoning that monster," Sariah reminded Amberite coyly.

"Oh, don't let it go to your head! Anyways, once I summon it, Dark Magician of Chaos allows me to bring back a Magic Card to my hand from the graveyard." A card ejected from Amberite's graveyard, which she took out. "I bet you know which one it is!" she taunted as she held the card up. "It's Monster Reborn!"

Those on the sidelines gasped. "Again? That's nuts!" Tristan exclaimed.

"She must be getting back another monster she sent to the graveyard earlier!" Rebecca exclaimed.

"You can do that twice?" Rini asked, scratching her head.

Rebecca nodded. "Yeah, but only with a card like Monster Reborn, and it's a good move, too."

Amberite discarded Monster Reborn and pulled out a different card, which she immediately place in her monster zone on her duel disk. "The monster I summon with Monster Reborn is Allure Queen Level 3 [**500**/500] in attack mode." A woman appeared next to Dark Magician of Chaos, her dress of purple and black matching the other monster's appearance. "I also summon Kozaky [**400**/400] in attack mode." Amberite placed Kozaky's card to the other side of her Allure Queen.

Rini hid her face in Darien's shirt, whimpering.

"Rini, it's just a guy in a lab coat, what's the deal?" Rebecca asked, looking over at Rini around Darien.

Darien stroked Rini's hair. "It's alright, Rini."

"Rini, what's wrong?" Mokuba asked, concerned. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

She poked one ruby eye out from Darien's shirt. "He reminds me of Dr. Tomoe… Hotaru's dad, when he was evil." Serena looked up, shuddering at the thought.

"Now I activate Shien's Spy, a Magic Card which I'll use to give my Kozaky to you, Amber… or the Pharaoh's Queen. Whichever one of you is controlling that body that's dueling." As she spoke, she discarded Shien's Spy, and Kozaky moved from Amberite's field to Sariah's field.

"Does it matter?" Bakura asked Amberite, sounding annoyed.

"Perhaps," was all Amberite replied.

"The Pharaoh's Queen…" Raye murmured. During the entire duel, she had kept her focus on Sariah, and her gaze didn't shift from that, her face one of puzzlement.

Sariah glanced at Kozaky, still stoic but inwardly confused. _I don't understand it. Amberite has summoned three monsters, knowing that she raised our life points up to 4250 points, and now she's given us one of them. Why? Her life points are still at 4000._

_{Sounds just like when she's preparing to drain people of their energy,}_ Amber replied. _{She tries to boost their energy to the highest amount they can hold… then she'll leave them drier than a sponge left out in sunlight.}_

_**Of course,**_ Yami interjected, glancing at Sariah. _**Trying to make our defeat even more humiliating and destructive – sounds like a ploy Bakura would come up with, as well.**_

Amberite giggled. "Aren't you grateful for my gift, Amber? It shows how much you mean to me!" She laughed at her own taunt.

"Urgh! Can someone shut her up?" Mokuba exclaimed from next to the still-distraught Rini. "Just shut up and duel, you… you…"

_{Yeah, apparently she thinks I'm worth a one-star monster. Funny…not.}_ Amber rolled her eyes.

"Are you finished with your turn, Amberite?" Sariah asked angrily.

"No, not yet." Amberite's smile faded as she stared at Sariah. "Now my Allure Queen's effect activates! I choose to take Kozaky from you and attach him to my monster!"

"Why would she do that?" Serenity asked, playing with her hair nervously. "Amber has other monsters that woman could've used."

"What I remember about that Allure Queen Level 3 is that she can only take control of monsters that have three stars or less," Professor Hawkins said. "Then, if she's ever attacked, the monster attached to her gets destroyed instead of her."

"Some monsters can control other monsters?" Mina asked.

"Yes," Mr. Mutou replied, "and that just adds another complexity to the game."

Amberite scanned her hand again and smirked. "I'm not done yet. I also activate Double Summon from my hand in order to summon Queen's Bodyguard [**1700**/1200] in attack mode." A trio of men in business suits wielding swords appeared next to Allure Queen. "While my Allure Queen has her bodyguards, no one can attack her!"

"What?" Sariah breathed as her and Yami's lifepoints increased to 4750.

_**That monster must be a key part of her strategy, despite its low attack and defense,**_ Yami said.

_Agreed, unfortunately_, Sariah replied.

"And now, on to battle!" Amberite laughed. "Queen's Bodyguard, attack Amber's Mysterious Puppeteer!" The monster obeyed, the three men composing it charging and slicing at the purple-robed monster Sariah controlled. It blew into pieces; Sariah braced herself from being blown backwards.

"Fascinating..." Amy murmured, sliding her mini computer out of her bag. "Such technology is revolutionary, with all the components to program..." She held her computer with one hand and began typing with the other hand.

Snickering, without moving his eyes from the duel, Seto replied, "I designed the program myself, Miss Mizuno. It certainly is revolutionary – and the absolute best in virtual reality technology there is."

"Someone certainly is cocky," Lita remarked loudly, rolling her eyes.

"Don't worry about him," Joey added, glaring at Kaiba. "Rich boy's always like that." He turned his attention back to the duel at hand after a second.

"Is your brother always like that?" Rini whispered to Mokuba. Sheepishly scratching his neck, Mokuba nodded.

"Now, anything else to take care of?" Amber mused sarcastically. "Oh yes! Dark Magician of Chaos, attack the Pharaoh's Dark Magic-!"

"Not so fast, Amberite!" Yami bellowed, waving his arm out. "I activate AJ's Trap card – Blast with Chain!" The face-down card in front of Sariah raised up, revealing a card with an image of a chain wrapped around dynamite. "It attaches to my Dark Magician and boosts his attack by 500 points!" Dark Magician was now wielding his staff in one hand and a chain with dynamite in the other hand [**3000**/2100].

"No! Never mind! I… don't attack your Dark Magician," Amberite quickly yet hesitantly recanted, holding up a hand. Her frightened look quickly evaporated to one of anger. "But I will attack him later, no doubt about that," she seethed as her Magician of Chaos returned to its neutral stance.

_Not everything can go your way, Amberite,_ Sariah thought to herself as she drew a card to begin her turn. _Pharaoh, may I-_

_**Yes, use my trap if you need. **_Yami glanced at her, smiling. _**Remember, tag-team duels allow for that, my princess.**_

Sariah blinked in surprise and stared at him a moment, then smiled. She looked at the card she drew. _Black Luster Ritual! Perfect! With that and my Copycat and Wingweaver…_ "I now activate a trap – Call of the Haunted! I use its effect to summon my Mysterious Puppeteer back from the graveyard." She picked Wingweaver and Copycat from her hand as the Puppeteer re-appeared on the field. "Then, I activate Black Luster Ritual and sacrifice two monsters from my hand in order to summon Black Luster Soldier!" Her and Yami's lifepoints rose to 5250 points as a figure in dark armor appeared on the field.

"Goodness! 3000 attack points!" Amy exclaimed, grabbing her laptop with her free hand to keep from dropping it. "That's a lot for a monster to have without equip cards!" Kaiba smirked before turning stoic again.

"Yeah, that's as strong as my brother's Blue Eyes!" Mokuba exclaimed, grinning.

"That's cool," Rini admitted, smiling as well. Mokuba looked at Rini then turned his attention back to the duel as he started to blush.

Sariah chose the last card from her hand, stating as she set it on her duel disk, "Now, I sacrifice my Mysterious Puppeteer to summon Luminous Soldier [**2100**/1400] in attack mode." When the heavily armored humanoid monster appeared, she announced, "Now, to attack!"

"Wait, doesn't she remember Bakura's two face-down cards?" Tristan spoke up.

"Oh no! She could be walking right into a trap!" Tea exclaimed. Cloe gasped.

"I think…" Amy trailed off, typing into her computer. "I think she knows what she's doing."

Sariah paused before declaring, "First, my Luminous Soldier will attack Bakura's Earthbound Spirit!"

"Hold on, little miss Queen," Amberite interrupted, holding up a finger. "Before you attack, I activate a trap card – Fearful Earthbound. It makes you lose 500 life points every time you attack."

"That doesn't sound good," Lita said.

"Over several turns, it isn't," Joey replied.

Luminous Soldier swung his huge spiked sword at Earthbound Spirit, making it shatter into digital pieces. Bakura flung one arm across his face as he steadied himself against the blast. His side didn't lose life points, but Yami's and Sariah's did, reducing them to 4750 life points.

"Will you still attack, Amber and little miss Queen?" Amberite asked in a sickly sweet voice.

"She's talking to Amber like she's two people," Raye commented, perplexed.

"Well…" Tea began, then bit her lip.

"Amber's kinda like two rocks in one bag!" Cloe offered with a grin. "Or… two peas in one pod?" She looked confused at her own words.

Meanwhile, Sariah declared, "Yes, I'll attack again! Black Luster Soldier, attack the Dark Magician of Chaos!" Black Luster Soldier ran forward and swung her sword at the Dark Magician of Chaos, cutting the sorcerer in half diagonally before it burst into digital specks. Amberite's and Bakura's lifepoints reduced to 3800; Yami's and Sariah's reduced to 4250. "And I'm not done either! Dark Magician," she began, pointing at Amberite's last attackable monster, "destroy that Queen's Bodyguard!"

"Oh-oh my…" Amberite muttered, eyes wide. She braced herself as her Queen's Bodyguard shattered into bits, covering her face with her arms. Her and Bakura's lifepoints dropped to 2500 as Yami's and Sariah's dropped to 3750 from the effect of Fearful Earthbound.

_Good work, Mahad,_ Sariah thought with a smile. The Dark Magician turned around and nodded to her.

_{Mahad? Is that the Dark Magician's name?}_ Amber asked, her gaze curious as she invisibly appeared next to Sariah.

_Yes… but that's a long story, Amber – one for another time, after the Pharaoh regains his memories, as well._ Sariah nodded back to the Dark Magician as it turned its head around. "I now end my turn. Your move, Bakura."

Raye jumped as her eyes widened. "Did that monster just respond to Amber?"

"Raye, it just attacked a monster," Lita replied.

"No, like it acknowledged her! Like it wasn't a program!"

"Please, don't tell me you believe in that magic 'heart of the cards' notion," Kaiba mocked. "It probably was just a glitch in the program."

Amy stared at Kaiba. "I also saw what Raye saw, Kaiba."

Kaiba chuckled. "Miss Mizuno, certainly you don't believe in magic or any of that nonsense! You're more than intelligent enough to stop believing in fairy tales and recognize non-harmful program glitches." Amy gave Kaiba an angry look before returning her attention to the duel and her computer.

Meanwhile, Amberite was growling, saying, "Well, well, Amber, looks like your traditional strategy for fighting me is still intact."

Sariah laughed. "What, am I too predictable for you now… Amber?" She emphasized the last word with a mocking tone, mimicking her host's tone.

"The name's Amberite to you, and you'll pay for destroying my monsters!" Amberite yelled, pointing with dark eyes at Sariah.

_{Thanks for giving her my message, big sis,}_ Amber said to Sariah happily.

_Of course, dear sister,_ Sariah said, smiling.

"Those monsters are nothing, Amberite," Bakura reminded Amberite, his stature steady but his voice seething. "All that matters is winning, no matter what the sacrifice."

Amberite growled, "She has destroyed more than that though, Bakura," she muttered to herself as Bakura drew his card.

Bakura stared at her for one moment, but said nothing to her. Glancing down at his card, he smirked. "Perfect. I activate Graceful Charity to draw three cards and discard two from my hand." He chose two cards from his hand and placed them in the discard slot.

"That's just like the move Amberite pulled earlier," Professor Hawkins commented. "Whatever he just discarded he must be planning to bring back and use."

Mr. Muto nodded. "Sounds likely."

Bakura chuckled; Yami demanded, "What's so funny, Bakura?"

That only made Bakura chuckle a bit louder. "You and your queen have been playing right into my hand all this time. Thanks to my lovely partner…" He gestured towards Amberite, who smiled and winked at him as he continued, "You both will meet your end here."

Yami narrowed his gaze at Bakura. "We'll see."

Three cards popped out of Bakura's graveyard. "I now remove these three monsters from my graveyard in order to summon Dark Necrofear to my side in defense position." As the gangly blue elven monster materialized, Bakura continued, "I also set one card face down and end my turn."

"I have a bad feeling about that face-down card," Joey commented.

"You think it's a trap?" Lita asked.

"It most likely is," Amy replied.

"Unfortunately, there's too much at stake here to lose, more than any tournament," Tristan said, glancing between Yami and Sariah worriedly.

"I'm just afraid of what that Amberite woman will pull more than even Bakura right now," Tea admitted as Cloe hid in her shoulder. "Very afraid."

* * *

Rini: Mew, how could you?

MU: ... What?

Rini: You left us for YEARS, come back and add another chapter, and leave us AGAIN at a cliffhanger?

Yugi: Yeah, it's not making sense to me, either...

MU: Let me explain, both to you and my readers. See, first I was stuck with the difficulty of writing out a duel scene, but then when royalfortressmeadow gave me an outline and I started writing the duel, I got busy with real life!

Rini: But you abandoned me... :'(

MU: I didn't mean to, Rini. Heck, I also didn't mean to just post one chapter today - I was going to post two, but the second half of the duel isn't finished yet, and I wanted to update my story ASAP... Oh fudge, Rini's still crying. Yugi, could you help out?

Yugi: Sure. *goes off to where Rini is hiding*

MU: Anyways, more chapters are coming up! Including the chapter with the conclusion of this duel.


End file.
